Anbu Lullaby
by Sable Scribe
Summary: Kagome Higurashi, Kakashi Hatake, Iruka Umino three lives that have been touched by losing family, friends and loneliness. These three have been given a mission none of them saw coming, take care of one Naruto Uzumaki. Rate May Change AlUn, Iru/Kag/Kak
1. To Gather a Team

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto.

Beta: Blood Cherry

Thank you dear for cleaning this up!

Prologue

She…she was the cat. She had been since she could last remember—much like the Hatake boy, save he was the dog.

At five she'd been a Genin, at eight she was Chunin, at ten she completed the Jounin exam, and she was just as quickly sent to Anbu. Her abilities seemed to stun and shock many.

Being in Anbu was much like being a lightning bolt, one could assume; speed, pressure, destruction. They all eventually compiled on a person until they began to burn, burn completely up like a raging, unknown fire. And if she was honest with herself, she might admit in the farthest reaches of her mind that she was tired. That it was time to quit, time to return to being a specialist Jounin, because the weight of an assassin and hunter was becoming too much for her already broken psyche.

Shuddering at the thought, she blinked before moving at a speed few could ever see let alone hope to achieve. She was in the shadows. It was the only place for a person like her.

"Cat, the Hokage wants you." The man who'd stepped forward was a strange one, with a large scar cutting from just outside of his eye and across his bottom lip to touch just above his chin.

"Ah, he's reviewing my mental evaluation, ne? It's time for me to stop, I think…" she replied as a sad smile ran across her face. It really was time; she was more a broken doll than anything.

The older boy simply stared—it wasn't often that someone recognized their own mental instabilities. Cat, on the other hand, happened to be one of his favorites out of all the other Anbu members. She was honest to a fault, blunt if one could call it that. "Let's face it, Cat. You're completely burned out; you've no desire to be here anymore, perhaps in a few years?"

The younger girl simply shook her head; that wasn't going to happen. "I don't think I'm going to come back after this. Unless it's to bother you, of course." The smile that was generally hidden from view flashed quickly before a whirl of blue petals swirled about and the girl was gone.

The older boy sighed in frustration wondering what exactly the Hokage could want with the girl. It wasn't that she was mentally unsound; she was just starting to lose her purpose to live. He only hoped that they could find something to, at least, partially bring back the smiling girl who'd give her best at any mission or prank the other Anbu members into smiling.

He was a Genin. He'd become one a year after the destruction and death that the Kyuubi caused, but the hitai-ate that was wrapped around his head felt hollow and without worth. The whole reason he'd wanted to be a ninja was to be like his parents; to follow them in their need to nurture and protect those closest to them!

Like everyone else, he'd been sent to the evacuation shelters when the attack occurred. But at some point, some of the children had been overlooked and his younger sister had been killed while his parents had died defending what they loved most; their children, their home, and all those precious to Konoha.

Closing his eyes he could still feel it, hear it with everything that he was. Maybe it was because he wasn't as over it as some of his classmate were. Some of them had lost a parent or sibling that night. He had lost everything. Both his parents had been orphans before him, and it seemed he was following far too painfully in their path.

Nimble fingers traced over the names. It wasn't fair, at least not for his sister; she'd never had a chance to go to the Academy let alone be remembered. Chouko had never stood a chance… Huffing lightly, brown eyes continued to stare but not see what was in front of him. He was lost in the different images of the past.

Suddenly he sneezed, and it seemed overly large in this quiet place that had no room for such frivolous actions as sneezing. Huffing lightly he wandered away, heading toward where his team was going to meet; training ground 3. He wasn't entirely sure why they were meeting up there.

Staring, he couldn't help but frown. Was it wrong of him to dislike his team? "Hideaki-sensei, why am I the only one here?"

The older man sighed as his spine seemed to straighten quickly. "Ahh, the Hokage would like to see you soon, Iruka. He said something about a specific mission."

Iruka's head tilted to the side slightly with a surprised and slightly curious expression on his face before turning about quickly. "I'll see you later then, Hideaki-sensei."

The older man frowned. The boy in front of him had once held a warm and enthusiastic personality, and it seemed the longer he was a ninja the more he seemed to die inside. But he was young…it could be reversed, right? The little prankster wanted so badly to be accepted, and maybe he would be on this new team. Hideaki just didn't have it in him to tell the boy that he'd been removed from his Genin team as well.

An elderly man sat behind a large desk simply waiting. While it wasn't an intensive wait, the fall out after this decision could be earth-shattering, depending on how this mission would be received.

There were only certain people that Sarutobi trusted in keeping a young, bright-eyed blonde safe, let alone happy and healthy. It had come to his attention recently that the boy was fast becoming feral; avoiding people at all costs, snarling, running on all fours. Not only that, but from what Dog had said, he was painfully thin to the point of possible emaciation.

When Dog was sent on three long-term missions in secession, no one had thought anything about it. When he returned to actively watching the Yondaime's son, Dog had been horrified at what he had seen. Apparently the four man cell that was watching over the youngster not only ignored the abuse, they had sat back and watched like it was a form of cheap entertainment.

In the year Dog had been away the boy had been poisoned, beaten, and run out of his home at the orphanage. And, at the age of three, one his age shouldn't be so scarred or scared of the "humans" that he lived near. According to the newest report the child was basically feral, and Sarutobi wasn't sure how to deal with the situation.

Sarutobi sighed as he eyed Dog; the young man had finally taken his Anbu mask off. His hair was gravity-defying silver, while that dark black eye seemed to be taking in everything around him. "Ne, Hokage-sama, what are you going to do about Naruto?"

The younger man wasn't sure why, but he was honestly worried about the young boy. He seemed so weak and broken, it wasn't right. He understood what the villagers thought, but he was only a little boy—a little boy that was slowly breaking.

A slow smile ran across Sarutobi's face. "You'll have to wait to find out when the others get here, Kakashi."

A thin shapely brow rose. Others? Who else had the Hokage called for this?

The sound of a light wind and the whirl of blue petals showed a young woman about his age. Her hair was up in a high ponytail of the deepest black with a blue sheen, while her blue eyes seemed lazy and tired. She was extremely tiny, standing maybe at five-foot-four. "Hokage-sama, what can I do for you?"

_'That voice was lovely,'_ Kakashi thought to himself; a soft soprano that held a trembling of depth inside it. Was this going to be his new teammate?

A knock at the door had both Jounin eyeing the door with curiosity as a younger boy walked in, his hair up in a lose ponytail. It was strange; he was extremely tan with chocolate colored hair and eyes, but the most defining feature about the younger boy happened to be the long scar that ran across the bridge of his nose.

"Now that all the players are here, I want you all to introduce yourselves." Sarutobi knew there was a long shot of this working but he had to at least try, didn't he?

The three youngsters simply stared at the others; one near the door, one seemingly trying to edge even closer to the window, and one seemed slightly amused by the whole ordeal.

"I suppose I'll go first then. I'm Higurashi Kagome, Anbu Captain. It's a pleasure to meet you both." She bowed, thick black-blue hair falling around her shoulders and neck.

Iruka could feel his scar beginning to heat up, she was extremely pretty. "Ah….I-I'm Umino Iruka, Genin. It's nice to meet you, too." _'Why did I have to stutter?'_

One black eye studied the two of them before glancing at the sly expression on the Hokage's face. Something was going to happen and he wasn't going to like it. "Hatake Kakashi, Anbu Captain."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, I'll tell you a bit about your knew mission. The three of you will be working as a team from this day forward, to watch over, protect, and teach one of Konoha's greatest treasures. But, before you get to the easier part of this mission, you have to overcome many obstacles. Now I can tell by your expressions that you're wondering exactly what I'm talking about, correct? Well, to put it bluntly, your new mission is to tame one Uzumaki Naruto and give him a reason to trust humans once more." Sarutobi almost giggled at the faces before him. Oh yes, this was going to cause a stir. But if it helped three of his favorite shinobi, what was the problem?

Kay have a few question for you guys, should I continue this? Was the writing okay? What are your general thoughts and ideas? Any suggestions for future pranks for Iruka or Naruto to play, and do you want anyone else to join the team?

-Scribe


	2. Actions

Don't own anything, wish I owned Kakashi…=[

Beta: Bloodcherry

Thank you for cleaning this up, =D.

AN: This chapter seems to drag on and for that I'm sorry, I'm sure it shall speed up in the next chapter.

Chapter 2

**Actions**

Sarutobi thought that their reactions were amusing to say the least. Why wouldn't he? He'd never seen that expression on Kakashi's face, but it would have been better if there wasn't a mask to hide the rest of his face.

Kagome blinked in surprise; why were the three of them being given the mission? Did this even qualify for someone who was an Anbu Captain? "What exactly is wrong with Uzumaki-san?" She could turn this down if she wanted, but it seemed intriguing. Why would the Hokage put two well trained killers and one Genin in charge of the Kyuubi container?

One black eye widened. He did badly with children. He could handle watching over the kid and he could probably handle training him, but the fact was: he knew nothing about children. What was Sarutobi thinking? Kakashi nearly choked when his fellow Anbu Captain started asking questions. Was she serious?

The Genin on the other hand simply sighed. Oh yeah, this was a really important mission. Why was he needed? On the other hand, why were two Anbu needed? Something was extremely wrong!

Sarutobi sighed; of course Kagome would ask a thousand and one questions until she was satisfied before taking the mission. "Naruto, as you three know, is the Kyuubi container," He paused a moment watching as Iruka stiffened slightly while Kakashi's eyes went dark with sorrow. "Because of this fact many of the villagers have been taking out their hatred and anger on the boy. The last Anbu members to have spotted the boy found his features and actions…well, disturbing—such as eating from garbage cans, shying away from human contact, and taking on more animalistic features." He sighed despondently, it hurt knowing he couldn't protect Minato's son the way he needed to be.

A small 'hmmm' of noise came forth from Kagome's throat. Could she really abandon the little boy? No, definitely not. Kagome promptly went into a very long conversation with the Hokage, asking a large amount of questions, while the two boys in the room simply watched wide-eyed as the question and answer session seemed to volley back in forth.

After it was all said and done with, Kagome and Sarutobi had manipulated both boys into agreeing to work on the mission together as a team. It hadn't been too terribly hard with a mass of fast talking for the Genin and a reminder of a promise from his Sensei for Hatake, things were progressing along at a nice and easy pace!

Both Kakashi and Iruka just looked at each other; neither of them was quite sure how they'd been talked into this. Apparently, Sarutobi expected all three of them and the little brat to live together in the large five-bedroom and four-bathroom house in front of them. But why would they need this much space?

"Bye-bye, Hokage-sama!" Kagome waved as Sarutobi left back toward his pool of paperwork; Kagome was secretly positive that those stacks of paper bred together when the Hokage blinked. Eyeing her new teammates, she wondered where they should get started. They needed to find someone who would understand this type of reaction. They would also need someone to help them treat the child when they actually managed to find him.

Chocolate colored eyes seemed to become extremely serious while a small pout seemed to cross the younger boy's face. "So what exactly should we do first?" Iruka finally asked. He'd never been given this type of job before, and now that he was on a new team, he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Doctor Hitomi Kagewaki usually treated Naruto when I was last assigned to watch him, and getting Tsume Inuzuka to help out would be of great assistance; she'll probably understand and be completely willing to work with us. Ne, gaki, think you can handle that? If Higurashi and I find Naruto?"

"Don't call me that! I get it enough from everyone else, so I don't need it from you, too!" Iruka's distressed wave suddenly caused something akin to ground zero.

Within a minute, Kakashi was opening his mouth to reply but, before he could get started, Higurashi cut him off.

Kagome's eyes went wide. _'That was dangerous…How did he do that?'_ She thought. "Okay you two, cut it out now…"

Both boys went quiet. Both had learned from an early age that a pissed of woman, who happened to be an Anbu Captain, was like a death sentence.

"Umino-san, do as Hatake-san asked. I'll cover the South side and you take North side, Hatake-san." Kagome looked at the two of them before throwing them hand-held radios. "Channel 3—use it when you get things set up or find Uzumaki." She quickly sped away using rooftop after rooftop. Both boys split ways, all the while making faces as they left.

OoOoOoO

Iruka sighed; he knew neither Kagewaki nor Inuzuka very well. All he had was field information about them and he wasn't too terribly comfortable going into the Inuzuka compound.

Sighing softly, he moved through the Konoha Pediatrics ward. It had taken a long time for the nurses to answer him, and not only that but Kagewaki wasn't in his office.

Iruka was fast coming into a rage. He didn't know how this had happened, but he'd been roped into helping with one chore to another. After being distracted, he finally managed to get a hold of Kagewaki's secretary only to find out that the good Doctor hadn't even been at the hospital during the day.

Leaving the hospital, Iruka could only sigh. He didn't really want to disappoint his new "teammates" as it was pretty obvious that he was no longer on Team 12. Why his Jounin-sensei didn't simply tell him what was going on in the first place, had been weighing heavily on his mind. These thoughts and questions about his teammates put the young boy in such a daze he didn't even realize he'd knocked upon the door of Kagewaki's home.

Iruka blinked when a boy about his age opened the door—he was small, almost delicately so, with white-grey hair and dark black eyes covered by large circular glasses.

"Ne, what can I help you with?"

"Ah, is Kagewaki-san here?"

"Yeah, Hitomi-san!"

Iruka winced as the younger boy turned around and yelled rather loudly for the man to come to the door. The older gentleman who appeared, seemed to have a grandfatherly feel.

Kagewaki was a tall man, standing above a crowd much like the Gama Sanin. His hair was relatively short, cropped close to his skull. However, his face was the most interesting; it wasn't a hard face but was instead covered in laugh lines of someone who tended to smile more often than not. "Ah, yes Umino-san?"

"How do you know my name?" Iruka asked; he'd never met the man before so how did he know?

Kagewaki laughed merrily, "I can recognize anyone in this town, and I've treated enough adults and children of the Umino affect. Now, what can I help you with?"

_'That's just creepy, my clan isn't that well known…'_ he thought. "Well, Uzumaki Naruto is in a lot of trouble and will need medical attention."

A pained expression swept across the old man's face. "Take me to wherever he's going to stay, I'll go ahead and set up."

Handing the man the address of their new house, Iruka said, "The house is open, just pick a room. I need to speak with Inuzuka-san." And with a rush Iruka was gone, leaving the doctor and his assistant to fend for themselves.

"Come Kabuto, we need to get things ready."

"Hitomi-san, who is Naruto?"

"A very unlucky little boy that should be treated like a hero." It was all Hitomi was willing to say. It was bad enough that many of the students of the academy treated Kabuto badly; he had been too young to really have anything to do with what had occurred at Kikyo pass.

Kabuto simply stared at the older man who'd literally saved his life before hurrying after him, determined to make the older medic-nin proud of him.

oOoOoOo

_'There were so few people who actually cared about that kid,' _Kakashi huffed, and he'd failed in a lot of ways. One of them being unable to take care of his mentor's son; most people didn't notice it, but the older that little brat got the more he looked like Minato had. It had been nearly ten months since he'd seen the kid. With mission after mission, Kakashi and his Anbu squad had been taken off rotation for the "Kyuubi Watch".

The first thing he'd done with his free time was check on the kid. On the first sight of the orphanage, Kakashi knew something was wrong. There was neither hide nor hair of his favorite little blonde that he looked after, and after questioning the caretaker he learned that nearly a month before, Naruto had simply wandered off one day and never returned.

What was more disturbing was that the Hokage had no clue; apparently, the last several squads that had been on rotation were more concerned with "other matters" than they were about a little boy that couldn't fight back against adults and had to watch out for poison from over-eager murderers.

He sighed; he didn't know how many times that he had been neutral toward the boy that had been yanked. Someone had every intention of killing the boy, the question was who? There were very few people who could change orders for Anbu. In fact there were only four that he could think of; the Hokage, Danzo, and the Hokage's two ex-teammates.

"Hey, Shibi." Kakashi waved at the older male in front of him.

A thin black eyebrow simply rose.

"I have a favor."

Said eyebrow seemed to rise even higher.

"Stop that. I was wondering if you could use your Kikai bugs to find a little fox for me."

"For what purpose do you look for Uzumaki?"

"I need to get him to a doctor. I'm one of his new…caretakers."

"Very well."

_'Geez, Shibi are you trying to be a robot?' _"Thank you, Shibi."

"Hn…It's about time the boy has a proper caretaker. At this point sedation would be advisable."

"Ayah, I agree."

Several moments passed as the two men stood in silence.

"He is near the Southern wall, close to one of the training grounds, Kakashi. If you need help with children feel free to speak with Noa, my wife has a love of children."

"Hai and thank you, Shibi." Kakashi wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth; if the Aburame was offering his wife's time and knowledge of children then Kakashi wouldn't mind getting the information from her.

The stoic Aburame simply waved as Kakashi took off toward the south.

OoOoOoO

Dropping down near the Inuzuka compound, Iruka was hesitant to enter. While in his own little world, an amused little girl followed by three small nin-pups was oh-so steadily sneaking up on the innocent little Genin.

A yell of surprise could be heard all over the compound. All the while, a small girl giggled wildly while sitting happily on her new friend. Watching, the Haimaru brothers couldn't seem to decide if they should gnaw on his clothing or lick the young boy's face.

"Hana, what are you doing?"

"Just playing, Kaa-san."

"Hey get off, would you? Stop it…no, don't lick there…hey, cut it out!" Iruka protested from his position on the ground between pushing away nin-puppies without hurting them, and the shorty sitting on top of him.

"Haimaru brothers, stop and stay. Hana get off the boy." Tsume growled out, but a small amount of amusement seemed to color her commands. Bending down, she grabbed the younger ninja by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him to his feet.

"Thanks," Iruka muttered, pushing his shirt back into place before putting his hair back into its customary ponytail.

"What can I help you with?" Tsume asked.

"Well, my team and I need help understanding animal behavior."

"Why? Hana get to the house, you need to practice with your kunai."

"But Kaa—"

"NOW."

Iruka watched the girl leave. "Uzumaki-san has been living on the streets for the last few months. Supposedly, he's been acting like a dog or animal of the canine variety. None of my team members or myself has any experience with such things."

"The boy's going back to his animal instincts?"

"Not completely. From the report, he can speak well enough but doesn't trust anything human…at all." A frown formed on his young, innocent face.

Tsume found herself blushing, but from what she wasn't too sure of…_'What the hell? Does this kid use pheromones or something?'_ She wondered. "Well, it's something I'll help you with. When would be a good time?"

"Ah, we still have to find him first and see what kind of condition he's in."

"Come back then, or send me a message."

"Hai!" Waving he left to return back to his new…well, _their_ new home to help the doctor set things up.

oOoOoOo

A soft harmony could be heard if you were near a black blur that was canvassing the south side of Konoha. For the last few hours she'd been picking up small evidence that a child was indeed living in the streets.

While her nose wasn't as sharp as an Inuzuka's—or Kakashi's for that matter—she could find this scent. It was incredibly strong in the way of an unwashed body. Looking down, her sharp eyes caught a trail; it could be the size of a small child or medium-sized dog, but most dogs didn't break things up like this one did.

Small patches of spare fabric could be found in the bushes she was looking through; nope, the child had moved from this hiding spot. Moving on, Kagome continued to find trail after trail with many of them leading to trash cans or dumpster areas. Kagome had a sick feeling in her stomach that the little boy she was looking for had been digging for leftover food from the garbage.

The farther Kagome followed the different trails, the more it seemed that the trails became fainter as if whoever was making them was getting weaker. It also seemed that they were getting farther and farther from society, or at least where civilians could or would find them.

Kagome almost moved over it, almost missed the small bit of yellow hidden very well behind a bush covered in the fur of stray dogs. What she saw woke something up that had been dormant for a very long time; rage, utter and uncontainable rage seemed to sear her to the soul.

The tiny boy was covered in dirt and was lacking in any clothing. He seemed to have pads upon his feet and parts of his hands from running. Leaves covered the small child; he was small, smaller than he should have been for someone over halfway through his third year of life. He should have been at least four of five inches taller, and she didn't want to imagine how low his weight was. He was completely bare and completely unconscious. Kagome was relatively sure that she could see at least an outline of every bone of his body and could plainly see the indention of his ribs and the protrusion of his small, delicate hips.

After the rage had passed nothing but utter sorrow started to fill her heart. Was she any different than the other in this cowardly village? Ignoring something like this was all but impossible; how could she or any of those who live in Konohagakure ignore something like this?

She thought of using her jacket; it was nothing special, just a hoodie that she always wore in rain, heat, and snow. Seconds later, the whirl of wind of the Shunshin no Jutsu moved behind her.

"Kagome, what…?"

"He's right here, Kakashi." As Kagome moved the strays fled, fearful of her and not too attached to stay with the boy. Tears overflowed down her face before she removed her jacket. Hunching over the small body, Kagome laid the jacket out.

"Shit…" Kakashi cursed.

"I feel so foolish, I know little about the boy. But still, to this degree of ignorance…it's disgusting. The strays treated him better than we did!" The sorrow that filled her form was painful, but gentle hands moved the small body before wrapping it tightly in the warm jacket.

A warm hand touched her shoulder. Kakashi could feel the hurt, because he was experiencing it too. It was disgusting; he'd never thought it would have gotten bad. "Come on, let's get him to a doctor."

Kagome could only nod; if she tried to speak at this point she would do nothing but sob. Pulling the limp boy toward her body, she cuddled and warmed him the best that she could. Kind fingers stroked a thin face before caressing soft blonde spikes of hair that would probably never be controlled.

After several moments of composure she decided that she needed to ask. "Who…who do you think caused this and be honest. My team should have been on this rotation nearly three months ago, but we were pulled at the last moment."

Kakashi paused, unsure of what to say. It wasn't just any one; it seemed in the days following this, Anbu was going to be in upheaval. "Who pulled your team?"

Blue eyes darkened. "Danzo."

"Hmmm, we can finish this later right?"

"Hai…I'll meet you at the house then."

Kakashi watched her go. Konoha should have never messed with the boy. It seemed Ice Queen Higurashi had a maternal gene after all, and he honestly felt sorry for whoever got in the way of her path. Because he wouldn't be the one to try to stop her, in fact he might lend a helping hand or summons to get the job done. His singular black eye seemed to darken further momentarily showing the anger that he hid so very well.


	3. Reactions

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Masashi Kishimoto respectively. (I wouldn't mind if Kishimoto would sell me the rights to most of the male cast, though.)

Beta: BoxingBunny, BloodCherry

Inspired by: WhisperingKage

This story wouldn't have been created or so loved without the three people who have helped me so much, so I thank all of you very much!

Just for some clarification on ages:

Kagome/Kakashi-17

Iruka-14

Kabuto-10

Chapter 3

**Reactions**

As Kagome arrived at the house she could only sigh, hoping that Umino had managed to get the doctor there, she honestly couldn't say she was to terribly proud to be a citizen or even a ninja of Konoha at the point. There was no pride in the death and mistreatment of small children.

She almost sighed seeing two young boys on the stoop of the large house, they hadn't even investigated it. They'd seen the picture and visited it briefly before splitting up to do their mission, but she really had no clue what was inside the home.

"Umino-san, where is the doctor?" Kagome asked shifting the bundle slightly.

"On the second floor, in the smallest bedroom. Is that him, Higurashi?" Iruka was curious, but at the same time he didn't want to be. While he didn't actively dislike the kid, he couldn't help but be weary as to what the small boy might be capable of.

"Alright then, I want the two of you to stay outside, okay? There are just some things you shouldn't see. Kakashi is coming, wait for him." She swept past the two before hurrying up the stairs

O

O

The two boys blinked as they watched the older girl rush by them with an extremely small bundle in her arm. Kabuto could only frown, that wasn't right, if he was getting so close to being four, the kid should be a lot bigger than that, even if both his parents were really short.

Iruka sighed, he's seen death before and he'd killed. What exactly where they trying to spare him from?

"You know, if that kid is really supposed to be about four he should be about double that size." Kabuto commented. He'd gotten a lot of rough treatment from the village because of the fact that he'd simply been found at Kikyo Pass. He'd been a little kid with no clue as to what was going on, so when Hitomi found him, the old medic had simply taken him in.

Iruka blinked in surprise where had that come from?

Kabuto glanced at the older boy he was about two years older him give or take a year and could remember the Kyuubi, just like he could. While he hadn't lost anyone important like the Genin next to him, he'd received a lot of the same treatment the Kyuubi container did, but he'd had someone to protect and comfort him when things began to roll down hill. "You shouldn't hate him for being a jailor. Konoha is a hateful place for people like me and him."

Iruka frowned, "What…what do you mean?"

"I wasn't born in Konoha. Hitomi found me among the dead at the Battle of Kikyo Pass. A lot of people in this village during the third war called me a spy and even now that I'm a genin, no one wants to be on the team with the 'spy'. But I was lucky, for one I was older than Naruto, and I had someone who was willing to protect me. I don't think he's had that kind of luck." Kabuto could vaguely remember seeing a small boy running from people in terror. He was yet another person who'd been able to ignore the kid to keep himself safe, Hitomi would be ashamed if he knew.

Iruka felt guilty, but at the same time he wasn't willing to let go of his resentment, maybe he could get over it eventually?

Both boys were interrupted from their conversation by a swirl of leafs, within the blink of an eye Kakashi stood in front of them. "Is everyone here?"

"Tsume-san said she would help when Naruto was conscious…but other than that, yes." Iruka replied calmly, he had so much to think about. "Why did Higurashi ask us to stay here?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, how did one explain that kind of thing? "You'll find out soon enough. I imagine she'll let everyone in once she and the Doctor have him cleaned up and such."

The boys looked at each other again, was it that bad?

O

O

Hitomi sighed as he set things up, he was getting far too old to be doing things such as this.

"Kagewaki-san?" A soft feminine voice called out.

"In here, my dear," Hitomi replied.

Kagome sent the older man a weak smile, before laying the small boy on the bed covers. Moving away the covers, she watched as the older man's eyes widened before a sad expression crossed his face.

It would be another hour for them to completely clean the boy and have him comfortable in the small twin bed. The boy would be kept on an Intravenous therapy, sedated, and a feeding tube was placed directly to the boy's stomach.

"How long will he have to be like this?" Kagome asked.

"Quite a while dear, we've got to get him to put on some weight and get some muscle back on him. Other than being significantly underweight, he's in surprisingly good health." Hitomi replied softly.

"Alright, I mean is there anything that we can do?"

"Not a thing but wait, my dear, I'll be back to check on him later. Over the next few days, make sure to move his arms and legs to keep the muscles in good shape, alright?"

Kagome nodded as she watched the older man go, to be honest she felt silly just sitting there, but what else was there to do?

O

O

As Kagome left the stairwell, she was bombarded with questions from the two young boys, "Hold on a moment!" She hadn't yelled but she'd been tempted to, goodness they were loud. Narrowing her eyes at the young white haired boy she sighed, "Now who are you?"

Kabuto blushed, "I'm Kabuto Yakushi, I'm Dr. Kagewaki's adopted son." The younger boy shuffled his feet lightly, "I want to be a Medic nin like him, so I come when he goes on call."

"Alright then, now I'll try to answer your questions," Kagome replied. This was going to be a long day; she could feel it in her bone.

"What was wrong with him?" Kabuto asked, he was rather blunt like that. But then again, he was only ten, so he could get away with it most of the time.

"He's extremely malnourished and dehydrated."

"What does Hitomi want done?"

"He's done everything that he can, Yakushi-san. Naruto is on a number of machines such as a ventilator to ensure he doesn't stop breathing, an Iv drip and a tube directly to the stomach, from what I understand it's nothing but water with mineral and such at the moment, because he hasn't had food in so long," Kagome replied, shaking lightly, "if the two of you want to see him you can, but I want you to be quiet, understand?" She asked, staring the two of them down.

Both boys nodded before hurrying up the stairs, Kagome on the other hand simply found a chair and shook. She was more upset than she wanted to admit, mostly anyone could see it.

Kakashi had been silent the entire time, simply listening, he honestly felt like a failure. He knew Naruto was Minato's kid, but he hadn't been there to protect him, this was one of those moments Icha Icha Paradise wasn't going to fix. Sighing, he moved from his comfortable spot on the wall. "Hey, come here."

Kagome blinked before staring at Kakashi, they really didn't know each other very well at all. They'd never even really worked with each other, save a time or two during the war after Uchiha Obito died.

"Why?" She sniffled lightly.

Kakashi rolled his good eye, before pulling Kagome out of her chair and into his arms. "Let it out."

She shook her head, before the tears came. She'd promised not to cry and there she was bawling like a baby, she hadn't even cried when they'd told her that her papa had been killed in action. Why was this affecting her so much?

Kakashi simply sighed, he really didn't think she was much like him but maybe he was wrong. He couldn't remember the last time he'd cried either, but it would be better to let it out. Her silent tears were much worse than the screaming cries of some, he wondered briefly why that was.

"We won't let anything happen to him, right? This is our chance to keep him safe." Kakashi muttered softly partly to himself and to her, all the while rubbing her back. Geez he sucked at comforting people.

Sniffles and more tears, the damn was surely broken, she thought to herself briefly before properly burying her face against his chest to let it out. She clung to him like he was her last anchor, the only thing keeping her from floating away. Maybe things would get better, maybe it would.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, quietly just sitting there, the contact and emotional support both of them had been lacking seemed like it had been found.

Rubbing her eyes Kagome sighed, she'd really cried all over him, "Thanks…"

"You have to call me Kakashi now, no more of that weird Hatake stuff, it makes me sound old."

"You are old."

"Oi, I just let you cry all over me."

"The was your choice, but I'll call you Kakashi. You have to call me Kagome, since I cried all over you."

The both smiled lightly, things would get better, they would make sure of it.

Both boys continued up the stairs, pointedly ignoring the shattered look that had been upon Kagome's face. While neither one of them would admit it, it was startling for them to see someone that age with that sort of face.

"Do you think it's that bad?" Iruka whispered.

"Yeah, I mean she's an Anbu member. That and she was Anbu while the war was going on, I mean she was on the front lines…" Kabuto shuddered slightly, what a disturbing thought, he'd just turned five when the war had started, nearly four months later he'd been in Konoha with Hitomi.

Iruka nodded, he'd only just gotten into the Academy himself, but he remembered seeing the injured being carried through town, and the funerals that almost always followed. Sighing softly, he gently opened the door. Looking around his eyes were drawn to a pale figure, and it made his stomach heavy just looking at him.

Kabuto frowned, before moving past Iruka to gently place his hand against the small boys cheek. He wasn't too hot or too cold, and to be honest it was saddening. It was like out of those books that talked about impoverished areas, but this wasn't one of places. This was what Konoha had done to a little kid.

"You know I used to hate this kid, "Iruka muttered, "but I don't really think I can… I mean if… If he was really a demon, wouldn't he have fought back? I mean…" Iruka sighed, when faced with something like this all he could feel was guilty.

"Make it up to him then," Kabuto answered honestly, a small smile on his face. Oh yeah, he liked winning, especially if his point got across.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to… Kabuto… How old are you exactly?" Iruka asked curious.

"Ten, why?" Kabuto was cautious. Why would he want to know?

"You are a lot wiser than most people I know." Iruka stated, all the while thinking his new friend was very much like an old man.

Kabuto had a very deadpanned expression on his face, "You think I'm like an old person, don't you?"

Iruka snorted in laughter, "Yeah, yeah I do…"

Kabuto sighed, why did everyone think that? "Let's go get something to eat, alright?"

Iruka laughed but followed, it was going to be fun having Kabuto around. For once he was relatively glad he wasn't on the same team as his old classmates. Maybe he would find a better reason to be a ninja than the one before.

O

O

It had been nearly two weeks since Naruto had been found and placed in the care of three able bodied ninja. After Noi's initial visit, Kagome was once again convinced as to why it would be a bad idea to piss off an Aburame. Both Noi and her husband, Shibi, had been furious when they'd seen the state the little blonde boy had been in. They had both left their hive in a tissy, and stoically mad expressions on their faces. To be honest, it had scared her. Kakashi and his brave self had simply taken off leaving her to try to calm the two of them down. It would be two days later that Inuzuka Tsume would visit, and her reaction while similar was less terrifying, the Inuzuka clan was known for being aggressive in letting their feelings be known.

Over the last few days, Inuzuka Tsume and Aburame Noi had been explaining to them what to expect when the kid wakes up. There were a lot of variables that none of them could expect. There was a high possibility that Naruto was going to hiss and grow if he felt cornered, he would also more than likely hide at any chance he got.

There was a possibility that he'd have little or no ability to speak, and if he did they may very well have to work on his speech development a lot harder than most new parents would.

The list seemed eternal, but Kagome was enjoying her impending mommy-dom, all the while Kakashi teased her for it. The best part for her, happened to be that Tsume and Noi had taken to bringing their children Shino and Kiba for Kagome and the others to get used to. And Kagome could honestly say that there couldn't be two boys at the opposite end of the spectrum in comparison to personality. All in all, Kagome had really come to enjoy her time with Noi and Tsume, it was even better when Kabuto and Iruka joined in. It was wonderful to be surrounded by light hearted people.

O

O

"Iruka, Kabuto! Come down here, you two need to train, Kakashi will watch Naruto." Kagome called, Iruka was once again upstairs with Kabuto, and Naruto. The two boys had taken up a vigil with the young child. It was as if they were determined that the boy wouldn't wake up alone. They both knew that there was a possibility he would wake up scared, and neither boy wanted that.

Because of this and the fact that neither boy happened to be on a genin team, both of them had been working with Kakashi and Kagome to keep up with their classmates and peers. It was surprisingly fun.

Both were lacking in Taijutsu and that's where they were starting, while she wasn't as enthusiastic as Maito Gai about it, she did ensure that the boys began wearing weights to help those muscles get more use.

Individually their strengths were very, very different. Kabuto's understanding and ability with Medical practices were stunning, and she was more than willing to help him practice, while Iruka's ability relied in completely masking his chakra and his tracks, even from both Kakashi and herself. His ability with surveillance, demolition and trap making was amazing. He also had a great ability with Genjutsu, and she was going to teach him everything she knew and ensure that he got the best of her ability.

Kakashi agreed with their usage of weights, so he spent much of his time buffing up there ninjutsu and sparing with them at every giving opportunity. Surprisingly, both boys had excellent chakra control, better than he'd ever thought to have, between the two of them they were really starting to get into the swing of things. While he didn't have the ability to use some of the Medical jutsu that he'd compiled with his eye, he could and did teach what he'd learned to Kabuto. Iruka, on the other hand, happened to have a specific type, which made both of them happy, because Kakashi had a large number of Suiton type ninjutsu engraved upon his memory. Needless to say, with the training ground near, their home had taken a very large hit.

Just as Kagome was putting away the dishes a knock at the door caught her attention, as she opened the door she felt a heavy feeling enter her stomach. Tsume was at the door, and from the expression on her face things were not going to be pretty.

"Tsume, what's going on?" Kagome was now rather worried. Tsume had said she was going to come on Friday, but it was currently Tuesday.

Opening the door, she allowed the woman inside before the two of them settled at the kitchen table. The feeling of dread increased, whenever something wrong occurred people tended to gravitate toward the kitchen.

Tsume huffed lightly, she'd gotten to know the four of the five conscious occupants of the house, and she did count Kabuto as an occupant he lived here more than at Hitomi's now. And she'd seen how they'd gravitated toward each other. How it had leaked that Kagome and Kakashi were taking care of Naruto, she would never know but she knew that it was something others were only suppose to know on a need to know basis.

"The civilian council heard about you and Kakashi watching over Naruto. They want to two of you back in Anbu promptly, and Naruto executed." Tsume stated rather bluntly, there really wasn't a point to beat around the bush.

Kagome felt her blood boil. Oh, it was going to be on. She would let the Hokage handle it, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to get Iruka to help her prank the stuffing out of the mean old bastards. Oh yes, they didn't know what was going to be in store for them.

Several hours later, Kagome would tell both Iruka and Kakashi what Tsume had spoken with her about. The three of them would present a united front, no one would be taking that broken little boy from them.


	4. The Meeting

I don't own anything.

Beta: Blood Cherry

Thank you very much dear! =D

Chapter 4

**The Meeting**

Hiruzen sighed, the council was causing an up roar about the care of one Uzumaki Naruto, and he had no doubt that everyone who was involved with finding and caring for the boy in the last three weeks would more than likely kick up a good stir.

Hiruzen sighed again, this time loudly and wearily, before watching as one by one civilian and shinobi council members came into the meeting chamber to discuss the issue. Supposedly, there was no reason to pull two Anbu members from duty like he had done, so he needed to get things fixed. Or at least those were some of the complaints, at least from the Shinobi section, the civilian council just wanted the little boy to die.

He looked upward and smiled at seeing both Kakashi and Kagome were hidden in the shadows of the vaulted ceiling. Today was going to be fun, he couldn't wait to see reactions, he knew both Inuzuka Tsume and Aburame Noi were more than scandalized at the little boy's condition. The leader was finally going to put the power back in the hands of the seat Hokage, and it was about damn time.

"This meeting is now in order. Who wishes to start this meeting?" Hiruzen nearly smacked himself, god he hated politics and formalities. He eyed the members of the council, five seats were appointed by the citizens of Konoha. There were eleven clan seats or votes: Nara, Akamichi, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Uchiha, Hyuuga, Kurama, Senju, and his own clan seat, Sarutobi which was currently being held by his oldest son, Kichirou. The Senju seat had been in stasis since the last war, and it seemed it would fade into nothing considering that Tsunade had no intentions of coming back to Konoha or marrying, while the Namikaze seat would be held until Naruto was either 16 or a Chunin, whichever came first. The outsource vote had been in stasis since Minato's death, since Jiraiya's a Sannin and one off the strongest Ninja of the village, he had been given a seat and vote. The last non-voting three seats were held by Shimura Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu the three of them made up the council to the decision board.

Hiruzen forced himself from more depressing thoughts such as the fact that his youngest still had yet to return to the village, or the fact that within the next two or so years the academy was going to be stacked with clan heirs. Huffing, the mighty Hokage simply waited all the while reading his Icha Icha Paradise, really it was the best way for him to ignore the fools.

"Hokage-sama, really, the demon deserves everything he gets!" Otowara yelled angry, he handled a lot of the buildings in Konoha and had lost more than enough family members in the Kyuubi attack, it burned him that the thing had gotten to live.

Several other members shouted and raged, all the while the Hokage waited for things to calm down. As the angry protests and comments died down, the great Professor spoke.

"Uzumaki Naruto, is not the demon. He is its container, and in all honesty, if that boy decided to destroy Konoha tomorrow, many of those civilians and shinobi alike would deserve their death." Hiruzen waited before continuing. "We are going to be speaking about Shinobi matters, because of this; I want all of you who are seated on the Civilian board, to get out."

Kuwabara hollered, "What? This is about the Demon, not about your precious ninja!"

Many of the Shinobi heads gave the loud mouthed man bland stares. He was living in a Hidden village did he forget that?

"Get out. In fact, Dog, Cat, escort these members outside. How Uzumaki Naruto is treated is no longer in their hands. They have continued to mistreat the boy, no matter what order or demand I give." Hiruzen wondered briefly if it was wrong to get a perverse pleasure in watching his Anbu members rough up the council members before throwing them out on their bottoms.

"Now, shall we discuss this like adults?"

Many of the head members felt a bit of relief, every since the civilian members had gotten votes upon the council things had been shaky, at best.

"I would still like the boy to be placed with me, Sarutobi."

"That isn't going to happen, Danzo." Hiruzen sent him a cool eyed stare. In the last three weeks, he'd gotten evidence to put his one time friend to death. It made him ache to know that Shimura wanted power so badly that he would abuse his own.

Once things were settled and civilians were comfortable eating the concert outside of the meeting hall, both Anbu members settled themselves besides their leader.

Fugaku frowned; he didn't like the idea of Danzo getting a hold of that much power. It was bad enough he was on the advisory board. A number of them were wondering why, considering he was often ignored unless Koharu or Homura spoke up. He didn't hate the Kyuubi boy, but he had no affection for him either.

Hiruzen stared them down, "I have a number of concerns about the members of this council and how things are being run. The Fire Daimyo has agreed with me, as such the council of civilians has officially been dissolved, and at this time every rule and vote passed by these members are frozen."

Many of the clan heads openly stared, "So I suspect that Cat, and Dog weren't just taking them outside?" Shikaku asked.

Hiruzen smiled cruelly, "Ah, no. They have an appointment with Ibiki and Inoichi, I hope you enjoy them. They've been stealing funds, and ruining any chance Naruto has at success in this village. There is also a possibility that they had been rigging the votes, making it impossible for them to lose their seats."

Inoichi's promptly grinned, he'd wanted to get a hold of a number of the council members in the civilian council. Poor things, they would just have to play with Ibiki until he got there. He nearly laughed when he heard Tsume mutter about him being a lucky bastard.

"What about the fact that two Anbu members were pulled for Uzumaki's care?" Hiashi asked rather concerned.

"Cat, would you like to explain yourself?" Hiruzen asked, looking toward Kagome. There were three top positions in Anbu. The Cat, Dog, and Wolf, while the last overlord had been the Kitsune held by Minato Namikaze himself.

Cat nodded, before readjusting the mask. "As you all know, Anbu has an average of a 2 year service. This is my seventh year."

Several heads could feel themselves flinch, there was a reason Anbu members only lasted so long. "As such I felt it was time for my retirement, I was reinstated as a Jounin nearly a month ago."

Danzo frowned, "Then why are you still in gear?"

A small smirk flirted across her lips, "Hokage-sama asked me to wait, and make my recommendations. I would also like to apply for a genin team."

"What were your recommendations?" Homura asked.

Cat glanced at the Hokage, seeing him nod she agreed. "I suggested Yugao Uzuki to take my place. She's the best Anbu has to offer, to take my place. I would also like to suggest Shisui Uchiha to be invited into Anbu training and for Yamato to be removed from training to be indicted into Anbu itself." Hiruzen nodded, he could agree with all those suggestions.

Fugaku was extremely pleased; it took a lot to satisfy Kagome Higurashi. The question was, what was she planning to do after this? If she was really interested in training to Kyuubi boy, he would be hard pressed to deny her. She seemed to have a better head on her shoulders than Danzo. If the boy could be properly controlled without becoming the berserking monster that the older cripple wanted, then it was possible she could do it.

"What about Dog?" Chouza asked curious.

The Hokage chuckled, "Think of a stress reliever, Chouza. Or a back up for Kagome-chan, if she truly wishes to take on a genin team I will not deny her, but because of this she will need someone to take her place when she's out of the village."

Shibi nodded, "I would like to offer the services of the Aburame, in the case that neither, Kagome nor Kakashi, are available."

"As would the Inuzuka," Tsume chimed in.

Shikaku suppressed a grin, now this was what was needed in the first place, "The Nara will back this idea as well."

Hiruzen tried not to smirk, especially at the rage that could be seen on Danzo's face.

Inoichi and Chouza both nodded that they too would back this venture. They hadn't met the boy, but they were curious as to what had happened to him.

Both Hiashi and Fugaku abstained from commenting, neither of them felt the urge to back the boy.

Danzo huffed, "Who do you plan to have on your genin team, Higurashi?"

Kagome nearly growled, "Hokage-sama?"

"This isn't the time to quiz Kagome on her personal life, nor her ninja one. She has answered the questions that were required of her, is that understood?"

"On the other hand, I have a number of charges to bring against a member of this council." Hiruzen's killing intent seemed to have sky rocked and a number of them were wishing that they could leave.

"What are the charges?" Fugaku asked, forcing himself to keep calm. He couldn't have them knowing about the coup. It was long past time for an Uchiha to take up the reigns, if it would require him to take on a civil war so be it.

"Treason." That one word seemed to cause the chamber to freeze, no one really knowing what to make of the comment before things got out of control. Both Cat and Dog moved with a speed only the Sharingan could see. Beneath the two of them were what appeared to be Anbu members, but they were not. A sudden siren screamed from the radio at the Hokage's side, before everything went silent once again.

When both false Anbu members were subdued, Cat snatched up her own short wave radio to give a command. "Operation A, code Youma," It was an old command, one that hadn't been used since the second great shinobi war. Nothing would be held back, they had two members of this secondary military group, the only two that they needed, the rest were just a waste of time and space. Children that might have been in training would be spared, but they were in for a long, long wait. They would all be mentally evaluated, if found unstable many of them would be sedated and put under a long standing issue of Genjutsu. Or the secondary alternative of being put to a never ending sleep.

"Dog."

"Hai." Seconds later, Danzo's blood was spurting across the council chamber, both of the Ni members reacted with muffled screams. Whether it was of terror or shock, no one could really tell. Both Tsume and Shibi could hear Cat grumbling about not being allowed to end the traitor.

" Hokage-sama, Inoichi, Cat come look at this." Dog stated, looking down at the body of Danzo. The bandages that covered his face and arm had fallen away to reveal a number of Sharingan eyes. The members of the council waited, shocked at the sudden turn of events. What exactly had the old coot done to anger Sarutobi so badly?

"Uchiha-san….you….you might want to see this but I would suggest holding your temper." Cat stated, waving the Uchiha over.

Fugaku raised an eyebrow, what could he be needed for? Walking toward the corpse, a sudden rage filled him. Resting inside Danzo's ruined face and bandaged arm, a Sharingan eye could be plainly seen, and inserted at seemingly random places, there was a large number of Sharingan eyes. The question was whose eyes did these belong to?

"Do you want me to remove these eyes and save them for your clansmen? I can find out who they belong to if I'm given DNA samples of the Uchiha clan." Kagome asked, looking up toward the man. They belonged to his clan, whatever happened they would remain in his possession.

"Hai, I would appreciate that, Higurashi-san. I will have those who are missing or presumed dead gather parental and sibling samples." Fugaku was extremely straight faced when he returned, things were going to change. The Hokage should have known better, should have known was his council was doing but then again he allowed Orochimaru get away so maybe it wasn't so much of a surprise. Things were going to be pushed forward, oh yes he would have his revenge.

Hiruzen was grim, "I will no longer allow this council to dictate my decisions, this is not a democracy, this is a military dictatorship and I'm the one in control. A number of you wonder what I have on Danzo, well let me make a list. Making contact and giving information to a traitor: my own student Orochimaru, killing members of several clans to keep his secrets, rearranging my Anbu squad, sometimes killing or seriously maiming its members; or in Naruto's case forcing a different rotation, yet he also had a secondary militia in hiding to overtake the position of Hokage. He was also stealing children from clans for this militia; furthermore he admittedly wanted Naruto to become a weapon for himself."

The looks of stunned horror, or resigned acceptance could plainly be seen. This meeting was over, at least inside the chamber. Outside at Danzo's compound, eight Anbu units ruthlessly slaughtered every active member of Ni that could be found and many of the experiments that were near death or dying were put out of their misery. It would be a long time before Konoha was what it once was, but one major obstacle was now removed.

As the Head's left, both Dog and Cat settled into the seats to await their orders, Hiruzen on the other hand, was so very tired he would give just about anything for a day of quiet. "Alright Cat, I'll take that mask." Kagome nodded, before reaching up to remove the painted porcelain mask before laying it into the Hokage's outstretched hands.

"Well, give me a report. How is Naruto?" Hiruzen asked.

"Hitomi wants to keep him sedated for another month or so, by then he'll be able to eat regular food again and will have a descent amount of muscle mass." Kagome responded easily.

"I see. How do you feel about this whole episode, Kakashi?"

Kakashi sighed, "Honestly? It's about time, one of the greatest dangers to Konoha has been taken out. Now the only large threat happens to be Orochimaru… I believe that Anko has something to say about that?"

He sighed, "Yes, she does. Everything that Inoichi and Ibiki have asked her, she's answered. I believe she wants nothing more than to kill the man. But I am curious, who do you want on this genin team of yours, Kagome?"

She grinned, "Team Misfits."

"Misfits?" Hiruzen raised an eyebrow; just who was she talking about?

"Itachi Uchiha is a Genjutsu specialist. Iruka Umino has a strategic mind and is a top notch demolitions expert if I've ever seen one. Kabuto Yakushi Level 3, Class C field medic, who has accelerated healing and turns medic jutsu into offensive weapons. Then there's Anko Mitarashi, she's excellent at T&I, stealth, and ninjutsu. It just about makes a perfect team. I understand that you rarely allow five man teams, but I think this could be an exception." Kagome grinned evilly, oh yes, she really did want to get her hands on the four of them on a more permanent basis.

Hiruzen sighed, glancing at Kakashi he noticed that the boy was looking at his roommate in surprise. But then again, Kagome was very close to being the least understood ninja in Konoha, "Very well, I'll grant you this team." While he would never admit it, on more than one occasion in the last few years he'd thought about switching over to a five man team. This was going to be a perfect time to test that fact.

Kagome grinned, before mouthing 'free babysitters' to Kakashi, who gaped vaguely thinking that Kagome was a very, very cruel woman. He was eternally thankful she wasn't his jounin sensei, or on his team when he was younger, he didn't think he could handle her at that age.

"Alright you two, go ahead and take off." Hiruzen waved them off, grinning lightly.

O

O

It has been nearly a week since things had settled, with the backing of several clans and several pulled favors, things were set and the training grounds behind the house were ready. Kagome was rather excited that her students would be arriving soon. Chuckling to herself, she suppressed her chakra signature before finding a comfortable place to hide and watch. This might cause explosions.

Kakashi laughed as he watched from the upstairs window, maybe it really was becoming a habit, but he often found himself sitting beside the small blonde. Much like how before this episode of things-that-can-go-wrong-will, he'd taken up standing in front of the memorial for hours at a time. Kagome nor Iruka would allow him to stay there for more than thirty minute before dragging him off for whatever reason. It was nice to have people care, even if it was a strange feeling.

Iruka only sighed, while he was happy he was on a long term "mission" with Kagome and Kakashi he had been extremely worried about his own growth as a ninja. He was one of a few genin that was on reserve or happened to be out of luck and off a team. Then again so was Kabuto, so it wasn't that surprising. But when he'd gotten a letter in the mail stating that he was once again on a team, a type of joy had started in his heart not only that but Kagome was going to be his jounin sensei!

Kabuto smiled, "Iruka!" Running up to his friend he could only grin, this was the best thing that could have happened. Weeks before, he'd just been like a number of medic hopefuls, getting on a team was at times hard if you didn't have a second skill set. So he'd worked on his combat skills, now it was time to see how far he'd made it go.

"Hey, Kabuto, Kagome pulled you?" Iruka asked grinning.

"Yeah, I'm actually relieved. At least I know someone, who else do you think will be on this team?" Kabuto asked, a bit curious. He had no clue who wasn't on a team at the moment.

Anko scowled, she didn't know who this bitch thought she was, but being ordered to this place at 7 am wasn't how she was going to make nice! Not only that, but there seemed to be two idiots talking to each other like a bunch a school girls. Gah, why would anyone want the snake whore on their team, anyway? If this was out of pity she was going to skin someone, not only that, but who the hell was Kagome Higurashi, anyway? She hadn't been able to find any record on the woman, or man…whatever it was. "Hey, you brats! Do you know who our teacher is?" Anko barked out.

"Didn't you get a letter?" Kabuto asked.

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!" Anko shouted annoyed.

"I believe she was asking if you'd met our teacher as of yet." A small voice stated, coming from there left. The three of them were left in shock, Uchiha Itachi the Uchiha prodigy was standing there with a slightly blank expression.

Itachi was something of an unknown to all of them, he'd graduated last year. The fact that he was floating like the rest of them said a lot, either he was pulled because someone in rank liked or disliked him; or the worst case scenario and the most likely, his original genin team was dead.

"Ah…Yes, we've both met Kagome. What would you like to know?" Kabuto asked, just a bit curious.

"Why did she pick this team? I mean, I can't honestly see why I would be on a team with a clan prodigy and the Hokage's goody goody." Anko scowled again.

Iruka sighed, was he really that bad? Yes, he followed the rules but he didn't consider himself anything special. And he didn't have anything against the girl, why was she acting like that? "I have no idea…Kagome is…." Iruka shared a glance with Kabuto, "Kagome is….well there really is no way to describe her."

Kabuto chuckled at the two faces, just as he was about to speak he felt a vibration. The medic jumped back only to find a kunai buried were he'd been standing moments before.

"Good job, Kabuto! But I have to say you're all lacking in something." Kagome smiled serenely at the four of them.

"Hey! Why isn't there any information on you anywhere in the village?" Anko asked, eyeing the woman.

"That would be because I was just recently released from Anbu, Anko. You four are going to be my guinea pigs."

"I don't believe father would like me to be a test subject." Itachi commented, a rather serious expression on his face.

"Ah, Itachi, I didn't mean it in a literal sense. This will be the first five man squad since the First Shinobi war, and the four of you are my reputation." Kagome replied.

Kabuto frowned, "Why do you say that, Kagome?"

"I handpicked each of you to be on this team. This team, by the time I'm done with it, will be the best team in the damn corps." Kagome had a slightly evil look on her face, one that stated quite plainly that they were all going to be hurting after training sessions.

"Are we going to be having a test?" Itachi asked. He was slightly confused, his father had been extremely pleased when he'd been put on a team with Kagome Higurashi as his teacher.

"No, I know your skills and what you're lacking, you each have a weakness. Anko, your intelligence is pathetic. All three of these boys could overwhelm you in knowledge and that won't do. On a mission you need to be able to have knowledge before you go out in field and you know why, if you don't it sometimes means coming back as a body bag or just a head band. Kabuto, your Taijutsu would put an academy student to shame…and that is simply not acceptable. While you have a seemingly never ending source of advanced healing, what happens when you run low on energy? Iruka, I don't know if it's because Hideki is a shitty teacher or if it's because you've gone through two genin teams before him. But your Genjutsu sucks, and your speed and strength is lacking. Itachi, while you're the youngest it means you can improve the most. You have possibly the best understanding of Genjutsu I've seen in my life time, but it won't do you a damn bit of good if you're not physically fit enough to get the hell away or finish them with Taijutsu if it comes down to it." It was painful, she could tell they were shocked that they had major points against them, and that they'd been rundown in front of each other. Nevertheless, it was the best way; pulling things out of her pocket she threw a package at each of them.

Anko was shocked, no one, not even Orochimaru, that snake bastard, had ever looked at her with such distain in his eyes. Then again, he'd never said she was lacking in intelligence either, "So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Study," She replied dryly.

"Kagome, what are these?" Itachi asked. The packages were small and flat, with a number of writings on them, but they also resembled training weights some of the older Uchiha used.

"Seal Weights."

"Seal weights?" Kabuto was more than a little confused.

"Yes, I'm not a seal master by any means, though I could be in a few years time. So I made these seal weights, you will put them on your wrists and ankles, and keep them on at all times. Your chakra will self adjust, just a little each time you become used to that weight."

"So, why am I putting these things on?" Anko questioned.

"Your slow, and have no real strength."

Anko huffed annoyed, "Why the hell am I on your team, if you think I'm so fucking crappy?"

"Because I see potential in all of you, Anko, at this moment in time you all suck in comparison to a jounin. However, you have to realize that you do have talent, you each have weaknesses, but the members on this team will make up for it. Iruka has the potential to be one of the best demolitions experts I've ever seen. And I've seen a lot of people blow things up. Anko, your good at getting information out of people. It's what you've been relaying on for the last several missions, but what happens if they don't have that information? You four are going to have to start thinking like ninjas, because from this day forward I'm going to be working you into the ground. That's all I have to say for today, meet here tomorrow at 7am, we will begin with Taijutsu training, followed by Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. You have until tomorrow before you get to decide if you still want to be on this team." Kagome rattled out, she hated speaking. She hated sounding like a bitch, but she was going to work some of that attitude out of Anko whether she liked it or not.

Iruka sighed, as he watched both Itachi and Anko go, "So, what is the name of this team going to be?"

"Team Misfits. Not one of you really belong… but that's what we'll be working on," Kagome smiled, "I'll see you on the morrow."

Both Kabuto and Iruka nodded, each of them had a number of things and knew that when they met again tomorrow, the training from hell would begin. But would being on a team with a number of others who didn't really fit anywhere else be good?


	5. Waking Up

I don't own Naruto or Inuyasha, they belong to Masashi Kinomoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

Beta: Romantic Princess

Thank you!

**AN: I want to let everyone know that until school lets out again, I shall be putting some of my stories on Hiatus. I'm giving everyone the ability to vote on what stories they want to have finished first. For more information or to vote please see my profile.**

**I would also like to ask that all of you review if possible, I find it hard to keep writing when I spend several hours on a chapter with no feedback I don't know what I'm doing right or wrong. I would like at least four to five reviews, I will not stop writing if I don't get the reviews, but it would make me feel better.**

Chapter 5

Kagome chuckled in amusement as she watched them, she'd honestly been surprised when Anko Mitarashi had returned but she was pleased. Extremely, extremely pleased… within the three weeks that they had started training they had improved far faster than she had expected.

Then again with all the training that had been done with not one mission under their belt she knew that they were getting frustrated… they didn't see what she and Kakashi had seen and acknowledged in private. The mornings were dedicated to the top three basics she thought that any shinobi needs, taijutsu, genjutsu, and ninjutsu, she'd begged Kakashi into getting her help with taijutsu because she only knew her own Dancing Water Dragon style and only Anko could learn it (the reason behind this is the Dancing Water Dragon was made strictly for a female frame and Anko was A. Female, B. Flexible enough, C. Agile enough, and D. Fast enough.)

When Kakashi had eventually come through with helping her convince Maito Gai into helping it had been pure genius, each of the boys were being trained in a different style. While Itachi was learning the Intercepting Fist the Uchiha family was known for, he was also learning part of Maito Gai's specialty taijutsu that dealt in shutting out the sharingan, and he was also learning the Daring Crow Style that relied on the ability to cast genjutsu with speed and precision.

Kabuto on the other hand was learning a taijutsu style that was suppose to fit all medic-nin's but because of his accelerated healing, and speed he could get in and out faster and take hits that were meant to kill. Because of it he was learning a secondary style simply called Sparrow… no one really knew were the style came from or where Gai had learned it… but it was created for quick precision strikes that were either debilitating or lethal.

Iruka on the other hand had asked Gai to help him learn his family's style which was called Echoing Dance… he would be the first Umino in nearly twenty years to learn it, and Gai was excited about the challenge so far neither Gai nor Iruka would let her see what it did or how it worked and when she pouted about it Iruka would blush while Anko would tease the two of them. Iruka about liking Kagome, and Kagome about trying to worm her way into the family through naughty means…. needless to say Kagome gave Anko hell afterwards.

Kagome wouldn't tell anyone except maybe Kakashi that she was the most proud of Anko, the girl had calmed down and taken her suggestions seriously. She was studying everything she could get her hands on, because of this she'd taken a liking to poison and introduced it to the Snake style taijutsu that Orochimaru had taught her. But she'd quickly abandoned it after to coming to terms that she absolutely adored the Dancing Water Dragon it allowed her to use her proficiency in Senbon and her knew found knowledge on Poison to a new level… it also gave Kabuto a lot of practice in his medical techniques considering how often Anko hit one of her teammates.

When they came into ninjutsu training she taught them things they had never even known such as jutsu that could completely hide you even when you were moving, there other such as ways to hide the signs of camp or to pull water from the air if one was low on rations. Not one of the four would admit to being fascinated with the things that could be done with chakra.

After showing them what she considered the true basics of ninjutsu she'd dragged Kakashi out of the house to forcibly help her. Noa often came at just the right time to giggle madly when Kagome stole his book and stuffed it down her mesh top, telling him he wouldn't get it back until practice was done. He hadn't even tried to go for it… though he was beaten within an inch of his life when he made an extremely perverse comment about how wonderfully warm his book must of been between Kagome's large plump breasts… her students had simply watched from behind a rock (they didn't want to get hit if she started firing off ninjutsu) with fascination.

After she'd calmed down she tested them for their chakra affinities and not one of them had seen Kagome or Kakashi make a face of shock quite like that before. Itachi's piece of paper had at fire lit up with flames before it became slightly damp. Anko's began to crackle and send off sparks before beginning to slice itself into pieces. Kabuto's turned to dirt before small flames began to come off it. While she had thought she knew Iruka's affinity she'd been surprised when wind jutsu was his primary while water was his second… it was then that she decided Kakashi was on his own… she promptly began to abandon her teammate with her team once a day for two hours every day save when he was on missions.

Genjutsu was coming along just as well, thought Kabuto didn't seem to have the imagination for it and Iruka simply didn't join the exercise they were both descent… surprisingly Anko had a great imagination and she'd already known Itachi was perfect for the subject… in the afternoon she'd once again abandon them to learn from other teachers.

She had several favors that were dabbled across friends and co-workers in the ninja corps, so she bribed and called in said favors… needless to say some of her friends weren't the least bit pleased. She'd let all of them pick three other ninja arts that they loved, Anko asked for T&I training, more help with her weapons, and anatomy. She's set her up with Inoichi and Ibiki for her T&I, Kenton Tsurugi for her weapons, and a woman named Izahe who tended to teach everyone who entered the hospital anatomy.

Itachi wanted more genjutsu, strategy and kenjutsu… she decided to teach Itachi genjutsu with a girl named Kurenai… her jonin instructor had asked the favor… then again she'd gotten Shikaku to train some of her own brats so it was okay. Kenjutsu would be once again taught by Kenton.

Iruka asked for strategy, ninjutsu and demolitions… there weren't any true demo experts left in Konoha so Kagome told him she would teach him everything she knew before contacting one of her sources who would help them find someone to teach him the rest of what he needed to know, she also told him point blank he would need to learn seals… (she wasn't about to tell Iruka she had every intention of him being the next seal master of Konoha if she had it her way.) Shikaku was the one teaching strategy and the only reason he'd agreed was because he couldn't teach Kurenai so he got drafted with both Itachi and Iruka… not that he minded afterward they were both interested and he now had someone to play Shoji and other strategy games with. Kakashi had already agreed to help Iruka with his ninjutsu and promised to find him as many wind jutsu as he could.

Kabuto was relatively easy… he was being trained by both Izahe and his father in anatomy and ijutsu (medic nin techniques), but he'd also asked for bojutsu and sealing arts. She would be teaching him sealing at the same time she taught Iruka and she gotten one of the Sarutobi boys to help teach him bojutsu… her team was going to rival the sannin once she got through with them.

Of course because of how tired they were all the time she of course told them she would beat them bloody if they so much as tried to work out on Sundays. And that's how everyday had gone for the last three weeks except for the most recent Sunday, both she and Kakashi had been called to the Hokage's office.

"_Neh… Hokage-sama… my one day off." Kagome pouted, she knew she looked just as tired as she felt._

_Hiruzen snorted, "I feel no pity... at least for you. Those poor students of yours if I had known you intended to torture them I would have reconsidered."_

"_Pfft… have you seen my rate of improvement?" Kagome grinned._

_Kakashi rolled his eyes, even he was starting to hurt after everything was said and done. "Where do you get that energy?"_

"_I steal it from everyone." Kagome rolled her eyes as her sarcasm dripped through the comment._

_Hiruzen chuckled it had been, a very long time since, he'd seen either Kagome or Kakashi get into a childish argument. It was nice to know that they still had some of their youth inside them, "Alright you two cut it out. I've asked you here for another reason... actually two of us have."_

_Kakashi frowned, "Two of you?"_

_Hiruzen nodded, "Inoichi, please come in."_

_When the older nin walked him both Kagome and Kakashi found them studying Inoichi he was often seen with his old teammates. "We have a small problem. At least surrounding Naruto…"_

_Kakashi frowned, "What are you talking about?"_

"_As you know with the raid on Ni we killed roughly 300 men and found close to 100 children were found about 25 of them were from clans who'd thought them dead. Fifty were from orphanages and several we have no idea where they came from. But the clan children have been claimed and returned home, and most of the others had found homes with civilians or other clans have taken an interest and taken them into their homes… it's two of them we have a problem with…" Inoichi began, the only reason he'd been brought in was to help convince the two of them to agree._

_Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch she hated it when they started beating around the bush… it often caused her more problems that she really didn't want to deal with._

"_Some of the children that were unidentified, well we began to run DNA strands… and well…"Inoichi looked more than a little uncomfortable as if when he said this things were going to blow sky high._

"_Deidara." Kakashi was staring ahead as if he had seen a ghost. He'd not had a happy life his father had killed himself, just before his seventh birthday. His best friend, Obito Uchiha had died for him and given him his eye shortly after his promotion, Rin had died a year later with his second father and sensei Minato Namikaze. As such he had probably known Minato better than all Konoha had known about his love life and everything in-between. Minato had loved two women and had a son with each._

"_Hai."Inoichi stopped there, he really didn't have anything else to say. The fact that they had the grandson of the second Tsuchikage Ryuwa, and the son of Minato Namikaze was bound to bring hell down around their necks._

"_Deidara?" Kagome asked staring coldly at all three of the men._

_Hiruzen sighed, "Kagome… only three people know this secret now you and Inoichi are going to be forced to keep it as well."_

_Inoichi blinked wondering what the devil the hokage was talking about, he'd just been surprised that Naruto Uzumaki had a brother. What else could the Hokage, be keeping from him?_

"_I know you're surprised Inoichi, but only Jiraiya, Kakashi and myself knew of this secret. You see Minato loved a woman during the Iwa war… she an illegitimate child of Ryuwa, he never claimed the girl as his. Sometime during the middle of the war the two of them meet and fell rather madly in love… she was staying in Ame to keep out of the war. Eventually, Iwa found out and attacked the town she was living in, she managed to send out an urgent message to Minato but he wasn't able to get there in time to save the woman he loved. _

_It eventually became apparent that she'd also been living in the town to hide a pregnancy that would have ended her life if she'd have stayed in Iwa. Minato became infuriated… they had attacked something that had meant the world to him. Considering that Iwa had also killed his remaining parent, his mother just before the war had started. This would be the first battle that Minato used the Hirashin in battle, he would eventually find his son Deidara and return home. This was all kept rather quiet, the populace would have taken a moral hit if they had known Minato loved a Iwa woman, regardless if she had been Shinobi or not._

_As such Deidara was kept a secret between those Minato loved most…. during the kyuubi attack the hospital Deidara was in was crushed, supposedly there were no survivors. Apparently, Danzo stole the child before it was destroyed, as such Naruto has a half brother." Hiruzen finished, noting that both Inoichi and Kagome were looking at him as he had grown another hand. _

"_Naru-kun is Mina-kun's baby?" Kagome's eyes were slightly dilated in shock._

_Kakashi glanced at his partner in surprise how had she known Minato well enough to get away with calling him Mina-kun? "Hai… Deidara, is he alright?"_

_Inoichi coughed lightly, "I don't know if he's alright or not, but he'll be better. It's one of the reason's we've asked you here we were hoping you'd be willing to take on Deidara as well."_

"_Hmm, Deidara is six now correct?" Kakashi asked, he wasn't too sure about this… when did he suddenly become a daddy… though he was sure this wasn't the end of it._

_Inoichi nodded, "He just turned six in May."_

"_What are you leaving out?" Kagome asked finally, she could see that they weren't telling the two of them._

_Inoichi snickered, when the Hokage sighed before sending the mind walker a light glare, "I also want you to take in another young child going by the name of Sai… his older brother Shin didn't even put up an ounce of a fight and asked to give information so that Sai could have a good home. As such the older boy is being evaluated by Ibiki and Inoichi, if he is proven sound in the weeks to come Sai will be removed from you're care and Shin will take the boy back." Hiruzen grumbled at being caught._

"_Fine." Kagome stated, "But the next time we come in here, please get straight to the point… I like my Sundays." Her eyebrow was twitching and not one of the three men was willing to ask what she was going to do to them if they didn't obey._

"_I'll be right back."Inoichi was gone and back before any of them could say wait a minute, and was back with two small boys… one was like a slightly larger Naruto with longer hair and the other really reminded Kagome of the picture of Itachi's little brother Sasuke he was extremely pale with short black hair._

"_Alright you two… Kagome and Kakashi are going to take care of you for a little while." Inoichi spoke softly, looking over the two of them._

_Kakashi sighed, looking over the two of them before simply pushing Kagome forward… all women must have biological clocks that said MOTHER THAT CHILD! Or at least that was how he felt sometimes when she watched Kagome with Kabuto and Itachi… she tended to baby them and Anko to a certain degree… Iruka… Iruka was a question mark…sometimes she flirted and sometimes she treated him like a little brother, and he was sure it confused the hell out of the prepubescent boy because it confused the hell out of him to._

"_Hello. I'm Kagome, the gray haired scarecrow is Kakashi." Kagome knew Kakashi was rolling his eyes behind her back. _

_Deidara blinked recognition in his eyes, staring at the older boy he studied the gray gravity defying mop of hair, "Kashi-nii."_

_Kakashi felt his eyes widen, it had been close to three years since he thought the little boy dead… "Yeah, Kashi-ni…." Bending down he was surprised when the boy simply latched onto him and buried his face against his shirt. Kakashi sighed… what was, he going to do now._

_Kagome giggled softly, "You're Sai, right?"_

_Sai stared at her as if suspicious, "Hai… where is Shin-nii-san?"_

"_He's going to have a long conversation with Ibiki-san and Inoichi-san… I can take you to see him later if you want." Kagome replied easily._

"_When?" Sai replied, his four year old face stared at her hard._

_Kagome chuckled, "Well it would have to be sometime tomorrow… they won't let me in today."_

_Sai continued to stare at the woman, "Hai… arigato."_

_Both Hiruzen and Inoichi felt their jaws drop, the little brat had been bothering them and shouting about his brother almost non-stop for nearly two weeks while they tried to figure out what to do with them. And Kagome just walked in and made a promise and poof they were the best of friends. Sometimes life just wasn't fair…._

"Sai!" Kagome yelled at the boy before snatching him out of the way of a Suiton Water Dragon that had been launched by Itachi. She swore to god he was the most curious child on the planet, and of Konohagakure. Sometimes she prayed he was more like Deidara… Dei had been stunted in a lot of ways because of Danzo's training and he was just starting to come out of it… either way he was a lot like his father in the fact that he liked attention and affection he always want to sleep with her or sit in somebody's lap… she was beginning to wonder if it was because of his lack of physical contact when in Ni's compound.

"Okay guys… let's break it up for today… everyone has the afternoon off." Holding Sai like a foot ball she could only grin when the boy began to laugh and play with the Konoha Hitai-eta that was tied around her waist.

"Are you seriously giving us the day off?" Anko asked, she was surprised but pleased, coming from Kagome it meant that they had EARNED the afternoon off.

"Yes, my dear Anko, you do get the rest of the afternoon off." Kagome grinned.

Itachi twitched, "Is tomorrow going to be like Tarturas?"

Kakashi choked lightly, damn, what the hell was Fugaku teaching this kid? "No… it's not going to be like Tarturas, Hell, Anoan or Gimokodan or Hetwauge or any other name you can think up for it."

All of her students grinned, before all of them tromped toward the house… she wasn't the least bit surprised when she came in nearly three hours later after playing with Deidara and Sai, and taking the two boys to see Shin, the two youngsters were close to passing out. Shaking her head she told the two boys not to bother Kakashi to much, considering he was working on a seal.

Chuckling after both boys demanded being in Kakashi's lap, and Kakashi allowing them to settle into his lap before they simply watched as he worked with his seals Kagome walked upstairs and settled down next to Naruto. The room seemed small in comparison to the rest of the room but it was large enough that her Genin Team, Kakashi, Hitomi-san and Noa, Tsume, Kiba and Shino, they could all fit comfortable in the room. The fact that it was the smallest room in the house really was saying something, as her thoughts began to wonder Kagome found herself drawn back toward a small movement.

Naruto was twitching! Kagome blinked in surprise as she studied the young child, his fingers were beginning to twitch while his eyes were slowly beginning to open. Going completely still she simply waited… she was scared that if she moved or even twitched the boy would wake up, and she wasn't terribly sure if it was a good thing. Hitomi-san had been weaning Naruto from the sleeping medication a little bit at a time as his muscles and body had began to gain weight and muscle. While he was still on the skinny side, he was certainly miles ahead of where he had been… she could still count his ribs and see his hip bones when she bathed him… but his skin was no longer taunt over his joints and his face was no longer as sunken in.

Naruto went still as a scent hit his nose… he knew two of those scents… one was from a long time ago and this other one… it had been here in this room a very long time it covered his body and the area that he was in. He at least knew this to be true, but there were several other scents that covered the room as well and those he wasn't so certain of. He needed to get away, they were all those two legged things and they would hurt him. They would make him scream and cry and cause something hot and not the color of his skin to rush from his body in torrents, no he needed to get away.

Just as Kagome was about to be relieved, Naruto rushed up and out of the open door into the rest of the house. She could already hear Kakashi yelling at her students to ensure all the doors to the outside of the home were closed and locked… it sounded awful she could hear yelling and the slamming of doors. Closing her eyes she went by each bed room and each bathroom and gently closed each door, when she finally arrived at the bottom of the steps she could only gape. Partially amused and partially in disbelief, Deidara and Sai were sitting on the table beside Kakashi's ink and brush, while Itachi and Kabuto were staring in shock from behind the kitchen counter. Anko was howling with laughter while Iruka and Kakashi were trying to contain Naruto.

And she did indeed mean contain, studying them she noticed a pattern Kakashi could get two or even three feet closer to Naruto than Iruka could… even when Kakashi the person he seemed to trust out of the house hold got to close the boy would hiss and back himself into a corner, she could easily see sharp little nails on his hands and feet while his eyes had become slits… not only that but his whiskers were actually out and sticking out. Naruto was utter terrified of them.

She watched when Iruka made just a tiny movement of his wrist, Naruto jumped to bolt once again… he dashed across the living room over the couch then over the table she blinked when she realized he was trying to get out of the chimney. Going through a number of quick seals and chain made of wind move pulling the fast boy from the chimney and slipped through the latch repeatedly to ensure that it wasn't open.

Naruto was startled so scared, something invisible had just yanked him from the place he thought he could get out of this strange box and now that way out was closed to him. He could smell something like burnt things and smoke coming from above his eyes and it scared him what if it was fire? What if they tried to burn him again?

Yelping in terror, he glanced up before racing across the room again to finally rest beneath the legs of something he wasn't sure what it was like but it reminded him of some of the larger animals he'd seen far, far away from the place of two legs. He knew that there were small people, small people like him sitting on the table… one of them smelled like him and he didn't understand why and that too scared him. Shivering he could feel something wet slide down his cheeks as his whole body shivered in terror, he wanted to go back… he liked the furry people they never hurt him.

Looking over he could hear the female who's been beside him when he woke, she was telling the males to leave him alone… he could understand what they said but he didn't think he could do the same or respond. Whimpering louder, he watched as the dark haired one shooed them all away. Looking up at the swinging legs he made a run for it back up into the stairs and back to the place he'd been in earlier… he'd been there a long time. He could smell himself there with none of the pain, so it was at least sorta safe, none of this place smelled like him except the one of the dangling small ones above him.

Kagome sighed as she watched the boy rush up the stairs in a hurry nearly all of them were staring as if the apocalypse had come and after looking over the family room and the dining room she was sure she would be cursing all of them for running him all over the place before she came down there. Grabbing Kakashi's arm she dragged the taller boy with her, she could hear the protests but choose to ignore them.

Kakashi gapped, the boy shouldn't have woken up for another two or three days at the least and a week or more if he'd been an average kid. Not only that but Kagome was going to get mad at the mess, at least his ink and drying seals weren't ruined that about the only thing that had happened that was good about today.

He could only protest when Kagome grabbed his arm and promptly began to drag him up the steps, he could only notice that none of the others were following. They probably thought Kagome was going to kill him, then again she seemed to have an unreadable expression on her face.

If Kakashi ever had the nerves to look back on this day he would wonder how the hell she'd managed to shove and lock him in a room with a very scared, very freaked out little boy. IT could have been because he was completely befuddled at the earlier chase, or fear of her mighty wrath either way when she shut the door he seemed to snap out of his self induced trance and realize she'd locked the door.

"Kagome… what the heck that kid is utterly terrified." Kakashi stated calmly looking at the closed door.

"I know Kakashi, I promise I know. But you got really close to him… only a foot or two away before he got spooked, on some level he remembers you. Which is why you could get so much closer than Iruka. Do this for me okay? I'll let you out when I get everyone here." She replied calmly.

Kakashi knew she could hear his slightly defeated sigh before a grunt of acceptance, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Get on the floor and call your summons." Kagome replied. "All of you need to just sit there okay?"

"This could scare him more." Kakashi replied, he still hadn't turned around.

Kagome groaned, "JUST DO IT."

He felt himself flinch, that was the quiet stern voice which meant she was going to hurt him if he didn't do what she said. Biting down on his thumb, he rushed to complete the summoning justu, all eight of his ninken were now surrounding him and he sighed before simply slipping down to the floor to sit.

"Kakashi, why were we called?" Akino asked coolly looking over the room, trying to figure out why in the world he was there

Kakashi sighed as all the dog looks at him in an expectant why, "Kagome made several valid points and I need your help with something that's going to take a long time to fix." Leaning back against the door he had to wonder how he was going to fix this or at least explain it to his Ninken.

Guroko studied his friend before laying down beside Kakashi, he was always willing to wait. And he was a little surprised when Kakashi began to absentmindedly rub the top of his head it had been a long time since he'd called any of the pack for comfort… not since Minato and his father had died. It was then all the dogs quieted down to wait… they knew something was extremely wrong.

"You remember sensei." Kakashi began it wasn't a question but a statement, "He had two pups… I know that you all remember Deidara, but none of you have ever met Naruto because the council banned me from getting anywhere near him while he was in an orphanage… well for the last several months I've been on long term missions. Because of this I couldn't be there, and he was hurt. He was hurt very badly by the people of Konoha. Recently, myself and two others had been given the mission to watch over and take care of the boy. He's here now but there are several problems." One hand was still rubbing Guroko the other was rubbing the bridge of his nose through his mask.

Several of the dogs blinked in surprise, Pakkun was the one who spoke up, "He's in here with us, isn't he?" The others studied the smallest of the pack before they had to agree they could remember Minato's scent very well but one of the smells inside the room reminded them of what they could remember of the older man.

"Yeah, I'm hoping the one or two of you that haven't spoken would be willing to stay in here with him the whole time. He spent most of his time with the strays around Konoha." Kakashi replied. He chuckled when both Bisuke and Uhei squirmed out of their Heno-hen-moheji vests to start sniffing around the room. If he was comforted by strays well they would be strays.

O

O

As Kagome walked down the stairs she blinked in surprise when she noticed that many of the things that had been knocked over and torn were renewed. It was almost like they hadn't had a animal-like child run around the down stairs area like a wild creature just minutes before, "And how did this happen?"

"They used a jutsu, Kagome-neesan." Sai replied, his normally stoic expression we replaced by obvious surprise.

Kabuto grinned, "We used what you taught us Kagome-sensei." All four of her students looked at their squad leader in surprise when her eyes softened before twinkling with pride.

"I must say I'm very happily impressed… three weeks ago none of you could have done any of this…" Kagome replied. "And thank you very much for cleaning up. Now we Iruka, Kakashi and I have a problem."

"Naruto?" Itachi asked, a look of understanding in his eyes. It had been pretty obvious the small golden child with blue eyes was utterly terrified.

Kagome nodded in silent agreement with Itachi, "You know the three of us have a mission to take care of him as such you three have the choice to stay or go."

"I would like to stay… Hitomi won't tell me why, but that Naruto is a hero. I believe him and I want to help." Kabuto was the first to speak, she could see that both Anko and Itachi were confused by that statement and could see the sad understanding in Iruka's eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere. He's just a little gaki, and I can get why they might dislike me, but he hasn't done anything to 'em." Anko stuck her nose up, she was trying to be a bad ass but it really didn't work.

"I will stay as well. It's not correct to turn your back on family." Itachi replied, he was suddenly glomped and pulled up from the floor while Kagome cuddled him. He eventually asked to be put he didn't mind being cuddled by his sensei.

Anko and Kabuto started snickering, Kagome had a thing for cute things and Itachi often times said things then got glomped… but really none of their team was safe from Kagome's glomping powers. After she came out of her cute trance, "Okay guys, I need your help."

"Are you sure you don't want to glomp Itachi more?" Anko asked dryly.

"Oh shush, I need you four to get some people. Consider it a mission, Noa Aburame, Tsume Inuzuka, Hitomi Kagewaki, and the Hokage." Kagome grinned, when all four of them sighed.

"I've got the Hokage… Genma lets me in when it's me." Iruka shot off before the others could say anything.

"I've got Hitomi, ja!" And just as quickly Kabuto was off headed to his house.

Anko twitched frustrated, "Do they always do that?" She asked looking at Kagome with a slight amused and frustrated expression.

"Hai. I'll have food if you want to stay for dinner after the meeting… and Anko I want to talk to you later okay?" Kagome stated staring at the twelve year old.

"Hai, hai," Anko waved them away before taking off. "I got the Aburame woman."

Itachi sighed, "I should have taken off before she claimed the Noa-san… Tsume is very loud."

Kagome snorted, eying the boy in amusement Itachi they had come to find out did not like loud noises so if Kakashi was testing his exploding tags or Iruka was working on some of the sound jutsu of his clan, Itachi took off faster than any of them could say don't do it.

Looking over the room she sighed, they had sorta taken what she needed to get her mind off things away from her. She had started using cleaning and cooking as a method of distressing, not that Iruka or Kakashi minded in either way. Before she'd been an amusing drunk, now they got lots of food and clean cloths… though she had giggled like a mad woman when she handed the two of them there clean undergarments she'd never thought she'd get the pleasure of knowing that Kagome Higurashi had made one Kakashi Hatake blush like a school boy.

Grumbling to herself about her loss of de-stressor, Kagome began to fumble around in the kitchen. She might as well cook depending on how long this meeting would last would depend on how many people she would need to cook for and she might as well get a head start.

O

O

Itachi sighed, looking around the compound his father had always taught him that the Uchiha clan was the best clan and would always be the best clan of Konoha. But it was obvious to him that was untrue, he had found a great falling of his clan and Iruka Umino was the prime example of their weakness. For whatever reason and he'd noticed this with his brother, and nii-san Shisui that all three of them and the majority of his clan had a hard time with loud sounds or high frequency sounds, and since Iruka was beginning to focus on his family jutsu's it was making it hard to Itachi to stay around..

Itachi liked Iruka the older boy was very nice and was always helping him even if Itachi didn't voice that he needed it, and it made him grateful that Iruka didn't dislike him because he was so young. Then again Iruka was good friends with Kabuto so it wasn't so bad. He did wonder about the occupants of Misfits House as he and Anko had taken to calling it… Iruka had moved into Kakashi's room so that Deidara and Sai could have their own room. That and there was a possibility that Shin, Sai's older brother was going to be placed into the house when he was released from Ibiki which was going to be soon according to Kagome-sensei.

On the other hand he'd also heard Kagome-sensei and Iruka talking about Anko moving in because the people of Konoha were trying to block the older girl from buying goods at the market and no one in Konoha would deny Kagome or Kakashi anything. They had made it exceeding clear one evening when they had taken the whole team out to eat that they would not allow anyone to harm those they considered to be theirs… he'd also seen Kagome give one of his clansmen a smack down without ever evening looking back, she was scarily efficient.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he studied the space before him it was the Inuzuka compound and it was a lot nicer than the Uchiha compound at least in his mind. It was surrounded by trees and bushes, there wasn't a huge wall surrounding it that made them separate from Konoha. That was part of what he liked about his team, Itachi finally felt like he belonged to Konoha.

"Hi!" A girlish voice replied.

Itachi simply turned his head to look, it was a girl she wasn't much shorter than him and had long deep chestnut colored hair and chocolate eyes. Three ninken pups were rolling around and playing at her feet.

"Are you looking for someone?" The girl continued leaning in toward the boy.

Itachi nodded, "I'm looking for Tsume-san." He replied, he blinked in surprise when a small warm hand took his own and began to drag him deeper into the compound. There seemed to be thousands of dogs, and their partners watching him. While it made him uncomfortable, Itachi had to remind himself that it was for Naruto who was the same age as his baby brother and that he would want someone to help his baby brother if something bad happened to him.

"That's my mom! I'm Hana by the way!" The girl, names Hana grinned at the slightly taller boy they were roughly the same age, but this boy his name was Itachi. He had graduated this year, it was amazing to her and she really wanted to be his friend just like the older boy with the scar. Her mama had told her pouncing on people wasn't exactly the best way to make friends, so she was trying to stop.

"Ah… I'm Itachi." Itachi replied, he was a little stunned. A lot of kids his age ignored him, or shunned him because he was different. She didn't do either and it made something in him go just a little bit soft. He could feel just a little bit of red creeping up into his cheeks and he had to wonder why his heart was beating so fast.

Tsume chuckled as she watched from her porch, it looked like the Itachi boy was going to be as different as Shisui and Obito had been. It was a good thing to see that they weren't all cold fish without heart, at least the Uchiha clan had a little bit of passion in them. "What have you brought to me Hana-chan?" She could hear Kuromaru laughing softly but roughly beside her when Hana jumped in surprise that her mother had spoken up.

"This is Itachi. He was looking for you Oka-san!" Hana replied happily.

"Oh? You're on Kagome-chan's team aren't you?" Tsume asked her slitted dark brown eyes staring into a deep pupiless black.

"Hai. Naruto-kun woke up… he was very scared and ran around down stairs like an animal." Itachi replied, he seemed to hesitate to speak.

Tsume studied the boy he seemed conflicted, "Go ahead what are you thinking about?"

"I think he's more human than he acts." Itachi finally spoke up, "I think he understood what we were saying even if he didn't respond… but he cried like a little boy so he isn't gone."

Tsume smiled softly, before walking forward and rubbing the boys head lightly, "That is a good observation Itachi. That is something the ninja need to pick up on. Hana-chan you're going to have to stay here, okay?"

Hana pouted, lip out fat with disappointment, "Can I at least see Itachi again?"

Before Tsume could respond she was surprised when Itachi spoke up, "I would like that Hana." Blinking she could only chortle, so her little Hana had caught the attention of the Uchiha prince? Go figure, that would be sure to put a cork screw up Fugaku's ass, and he wouldn't be able to do a damn thing because the council wanted Kagome as happy as possible when or if she ever decided to settle down. Tsume herself had seen how much Kagome and to a certain extent Kakashi adored her students.

"Alright, we'll try to make it happen. Let's go kid, Kagome's not going to wait all day." With that the matron of the Inuzuka clan took off, fast enough to be in a hurry but slow enough for the Uchiha boy to keep up.

O

O

Anko grumbled, she had no idea what Kagome wanted to talk to her about. She knew that she was getting better with her subjects and she'd seemed damned proud when Anko had used a new mixed poison in their sparring session that morning when she was trying out a standard move of the Dancing Water Dragon.

Looking around Anko could only frown she knew for a fact that the Aburame clan home was in this general area but very few managed to find it or had even been inside it. Not that many nin's or civilians would want to a lot of people alienated this particular clan because of the bugs that lived within the chakra coils of each member. She'd met the little kid Shino and there was nothing wrong with him, a little on the quiet side but otherwise a regular little boy.

Blinking she realized in the lot that Kagome said she would find the Aburame clan she could see nothing but a mass of trees it was literally and extremely tightly knitted together. In fact she could only see one path to get through the mass of trees, sighing in resignation she walked forward after several meters she eventually came to a very clear area there was a small mound in the very center that looked out of place the rest of the area was completely covered in grass and meadow-like flowers there was even a large river or pond that lead away from the place it was gorgeous but she had to admit to being confused.

Anko yelped as she felt several small things running across her skin her first reaction and instinct was to swat away the bugs. Just as her hand was going to make contact with her arm she just managed to stop herself, she could remember a conversation with Kagome that had happened when she wanted her to have a solid understanding of the clans.

_Kagome sighed, "Okay Anko, there is one thing I want you to understand."_

"_What's that Kagome-sensei?" Anko asked, she finally felt safe… safe enough to call someone that title after her experience with Oro-teme._

"_Never under any circumstance EVER kill Kikaichi or any type of bug in front of an Aburame member. They understand that we are not as aware as they are of insect life, but they are very unforgiving of those that mindlessly kill their partners."Kagome stated with the most serious face that she could._

_Anko rolled her eyes, "Whatever, all they do is eating chakra." She felt her skin ripple in terror when a nasty smile lit across Kagome's face._

"_Anko… the Kikai can eat skin, blood and bones just as easily and several times faster than any Inuzuka dog. Just because the Aburame use their bugs to eat chakra doesn't mean that they are not vicious and ruthless, they kill with a detached ease that comes with being raised that way. They only show their true personality to those they consider respected and loved." Kagome told her coolly, "On one of my favorite missions were in charge of removing a corrupt governor from his place. I'd just gotten a rookie in my squad and I informed them it was going to be a two men mission. Not one of them complained until I stated I was taking the Aburame rookie with me."_

"_What happened?" Anko asked wide eyed._

_A slightly sadistic smile slipped across her lips, "I provided the distraction and I told my rookie that he was in charge of the assassination and that he was to make sure that the medical examiner completely baffled by what occurred. And he did. When I finally arrived I found bug running down the man's throat and occasion squirts of blood shooting out of his mouth, eyes, ears and noise. When he was examined it became obvious that he had been eaten from the inside out and that it was very likely that he felt it for several minutes before he simply died… the only thing that hadn't been eaten through were some of the outside muscles and bones… all they had left was a shell even the brain had been eaten."_

_Anko's jaw dropped, that was kinda sexy… in a sick sadistic way. Shaking the thoughts from her head she promised that she would never make the mistake of pissing an Aburame off._

Taking a deep breath Anko put her hand down by her side, she twitched every few moments before they simply all flew away. She nearly shit herself small dirt mound exploded with buzzing Kikai, eventually they spread along the ground walking forward she blinked when she realized they had spread themselves out into Kanji.

"Who am I looking for?" Anko blinked surprised, "Noa Aburame… it's about Naruto. I was sent by Kagome-sensei." She watched in surprise when the mountain of Kikai ran back into their little entrance. Pouting slightly she settled in the grass, she would simply have to wait and it wasn't a long wait either.

Eventually the mound seemed to open up even wider and wider and she watched as a woman with a mass of thick curling hair simply seem to rise up out of the ground. There were dark half circle sunglasses covering her eyes, and her skin seemed to be pale as the moon, "I'm Noa Aburame, it's a pleasure to meet you. Shibi said that Kagome warned you were a bright woman, I'm glad you didn't strike out… it gives me hope for Konoha." Her voice was deep and stunning, with a richness that Anko had never heard before.

"I don't know why…" Anko snorted, "Most of Konoha hates me."

Noa chuckled, "They do not hate you, and they fear you. Fear causes them to act out because you are all they have to blame for Orochimaru's betrayal. That he waited until after Minato's death is an even lower blow…" Helping the girl up, she smiled when the girl nodded surprised. "Do not fear, should you ever need a place to call home, to not be afraid to call upon the Aburame. Anko."

Anko rubbed her eyes, damnit, why was she so nice. She was like Kagome, Noa didn't blame her for what Oro-teme did and it hurt… she felt like she had betrayed them just like Oro-teme had broken and betrayed her. If she hadn't been found by ANBU two years ago she would have died of dehydration and starvation.

Huffing, Anko rolled the emotions off she could think on them later. "Let's go. There ain't a whole lot of time." Noa chuckled deep beneath her breath, when Anko finally began asking questions about the fact that the Aburame lived beneath the ground. Noa amused began to answer, while they walked.

O

O

Kagome chuckled, four people were sitting in her living room… and they were going to have to get more rooms added on if this collecting people thing was going to continue. At least that's what Kakashi kept saying, rolling her eyes she felt herself relax a little when her ears picked up that the others were coming.

It hadn't taken long for Iruka and Kabuto to get Hitomi and Hiruzen to the house, they were probably the easiest to get a hold of. Chuckling softly, she looked at the number of things she had cooked she probably could have feed Chouza Akamichi with the amount of food that was now nearing the ready point.

Grinning, at Iruka she asked him to answer the door and that she would be right back. Moving up the stairs, she walked toward the end of the hall. Slowly opening the door she nearly jumped when a single black eye popped in front of her, she did yelp when the door was pulled open and she was plastered against Kakashi's body before the door was shut again just as quickly.

"Hmm, hmm Kagome is so nice and warm and ready." Kakashi grinned, he hadn't been reading his smut Kagome had promised him castration if he read it in front of any of her students including Iruka until they were at least 15. He didn't want to know if what would do if she learned he read it in front of Naruto…

Kagome felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance, before pinching the man who had her still plastered against his body, she got him right inside his underarm before twisting. There were several sensitive nerves there and she could hear him hiss in pain.

"How is he?" Kagome finally asked once Kakashi stopped hissing and rubbing at his "injury."

Kakashi rolled his visible eye, "Fine… and he really likes Bisuke… and Uhei…. he would let them pull him just so close before he wouldn't budge then they just curled up around him…" Sighing, he'd left both dogs with a large supply of chakra and they wanted food if they were going to be here not that he blamed them.

Kagome sighed, "How close could you get?"

"About a yard before he'd tense up. Neither Uhei or Bisuke tried to push him beyond that I think it's a decent step." Kakashi shrugged, "Is everyone here?"

"Aiah, and there will be food." Kagome replied, ready for his unasked question.

Kakashi grinned, beneath his mask Kagome was getting used to him even if she didn't want to. All they had to do now was go have a meeting, they had made a decent step toward helping Naruto… now they just needed to plan out several more… like how they were going to get him to eat and drink.

Sighing, she just headed down stairs sometimes the gray headed scarecrow just gave her fits. Kakashi grinned as he followed happy to watch those plump ass cheeks of hers moving up and down, and swaying side to side… Jiraiya would be proud… and so would Minato at least to a certain extent. The only problem was he was still a little conflicted as to what he wanted and rooming with Iruka wasn't helping his problem.

Hell

Anoan- European

Gimokodan- Asian

Hetwauge- African


	6. Ideas

I don't own Naruto and Inu Yasha, they belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Rumiko Takahashi.

**Oh dear lord, here is an update have fun. So I know it took awhile but I'm stubborn so the show will go on until completed. Don't give up on me yet yeah?  
**

Chapter 6

Kagome huffed as she finally stepped onto the landing at the bottom of the steps, Kakashi followed at a slower pace the echo he made, had the hair of her neck stand on end. So far everyone that they needed to speak with had arrived and where sitting around the table, the children were all sitting between different older members of the household. Sai and Deidara were on either side of Iruka meaning one of them would be allowed to sit with Kagome, or Kakashi.

Finally Kagome plopped down beside Sai and smiled weakly at the little boy, before Kakashi followed suit a great sigh was released from his throat as he sat beside Deidara. The two of them were more than a little nervous, but then again so was Iruka how couldn't they be? Naruto was truly awake and there were only so many things they could do. Keeping him locked up inside that room would be awful but it didn't seem feasible to allow him out at this time either.

"So Naruto-Chan has woken up, Kagome?" Hitomi asked, looking over the folks gathered. The Hokage of course needed to be informed of what was happening, and as Naruto's leading physician he needed to be consulted as well. Tsume would be there to help with Naruto's feral issues, so it seemed that at least there was a good team assembled.

Kakashi nodded before speaking up, "It wasn't a good meeting, I think we basically terrified him." The broom haired jounin could only frown his frustrations, at the most recent turn of events.

Hiruzen sighed, "How bad was it exactly?"

"He was running around like a cornered dog, though it wasn't so terribly surprising considering where he was found." Kagome replied easily, thinking over the weeks before.

Tsume frowned, "It's going to take a good bit of time before Naruto returns to anything resembling normal, and I imagine he will never act completely human. He'll be more like a Inuzuka than anything…"

"Was there any one he responded differently to?" Shibi asked softly, it would take months of rehabilitation before the boy was returned to normal, they were all aware of the fact. But it seemed that most of this would fall on the heads of Kagome and Kakashi, though the eldest boy Iruka seemed to be helping them much more than any of them had thought possible. For once in Kagome's career, Shibi had doubts that she would be able to perform at one hundred percent. Taking care of a child was something that could bring great pleasure, yet at the same time Kagome would be balancing her work, genin team, several small children and a little boy that needed to be returned to humanity. It wouldn't be an easy task and even with all the helped that she would be getting it made the Aburame man nervous about the coming months.

The was a small pause as those who had been there for Naruto's fleeing sprint through the house, it had been a bit terrifying for all of them. Most of them had been worried the little blonde would end up hurting himself as he ran around the room looking for a way to escape.

Anko finally spoke up, while it might not be her own special "mission" she did have a soft spot in her heart for Naruto. The boy really was extremely cute and she had little doubt in her mind that he would be important to the future of Konoha, "He had a lot less problems with Kakashi, but he didn't seem as scared of Sai or Deidara either."

Hitomi frowned, before an idea began to form in his head. While he'd been testing the boy he had noticed that many of his senses like smell and hearing were extremely enhanced, the elderly doctor had to wonder if it came with being a jinchuriki or if it was because he was related to the Uzumaki or Namikaze clan. "When I was running the diagnostics jutsu over the boy many of his senses were extremely enhanced almost to the point of being close to that of an Inuzuka. I don't know if it was because of the Naruto's guest or if it was because of being part of Kushina or Minato's clan. No one knows much about either and we won't until the boys become of age."

Noa frowned, "The best thing would for him to be able to get used to a set number of people before slowly introducing him to new people. Another issue that might come up is trying to get him to eat…"

A quiet pause seemed to run across the room yet again as they looked at one another, Naruto had just recently been restored to a semi-healthy life style. They all knew it was going to take him a very long time getting used to new people, as such they couldn't have him introduced to a large number of people at one time.

" I suppose Kakashi, Iruka and I will be the ones spending the most time with him then," Kagome paused trying to collect her thoughts. "He needs to be comfortable with adults, we could perhaps allow Deidara or Sai to meet him on occasion or perhaps Shino or Kiba? I'm not sure about the food issue, if he sees Uhei or Bisuke eating do you think he would follow suit? He's not stupid from what I was able to see."

Several heads nodded and the debates continued late into the night, Kabuto, Anko and Itachi could only watch and wonder as to what was going to come. They would all be allowed to stay the night as was becoming a trend in least two or three times a week, it was interesting to see how Naruto would be taken care of. It was eventually decided that Kakashi, Kagome and Iruka would take shifts sitting with the boy and would continue to do so until he was comfortable with the three of them. Eventually they would introduce new stimulation, such as other children more of the dogs and on occasion more adults. They would also began to assess the boy on speech, and try to figure out how his coordination and intelligence went. They needed to get the boy back on a relatively normal schedule, and it was worrying because he had so little contact with speech they might not ever get Naruto to speak normally.

Eventually the party began to disperse, Kabuto and Itachi both made their way up to the bedrooms. Itachi slipped in with the younger children, neither Sai nor Deidara minded. While Kabuto pulled out one of the futons that were always present in the room that was Kakashi and Iruka's bed room. While the boys settled down for bed both Anko and Kagome tended to the kitchen, normally Kagome would have sent Anko off to her apartment but with it being so late at night she didn't feel comfortable with the idea. Many of the civilians of Konoha took out their frustration on the girl, and it simply wasn't right.

"Anko…how would you feel about moving in?" Kagome asked, studying the dishes in her hands. Anko tried to hide the hurt that she felt when nearly everyone turned their backs on the girl, far greater men and women had been conned by the great and terrible Sannin Orochimaru. The fact that the civilians seemed to think that a ten year girl could hold out against the old dirty bastard was ridiculous. She'd been used as an experiment, and would never truly be able to get away, the seal on her neck would eventually limit her growth. Both Kagome and Kakashi had spoken about it before, but without the notes that had created the seal they wouldn't be able to find a way to remove it. At least until Jiraiya returned from his latest adventure, and even then there wouldn't be a guarantee that it would help the younger girl any.

A wrinkled nose, along with a thoughtful frown covered a young face. Anko had been alone for a long time, she had worked hard for as long as she could remember and it was one of the reasons's that she'd made an easy target for one Orochimaru. The purple haired child knew this and it made her angry every time she thought about it, she'd blasted through the academy and graduated before it became much harder to get through the Academy. She'd been apprenticed to Orochi-teme her last year in the academy and within three months, she'd gone from being a respected member of the Ninja society of Konoha to being a test subject for a demented and cruel bastard that had done his best to ruin her life. They had found her starving, and thirsting to death in one of Orochimaru's many hidden underground labs just outside of Konoha. Shuddering at the thought of that time in her life, the lavender-gray eyed girl studied the woman next to her

"I don't know. Don't you have enough people living here at the moment?" Anko frowned, with as often as the lot of them spent the night it was getting a little cramped at least in the bed rooms. There were four bed rooms in the house, one belonged to Kagome, one belonged to Naruto, and the other two were shared between Iruka, Kakashi, and on occasion Kabuto or Itachi. The last bedroom belonged to Sai and Deidara, and there was a high possibility that Shin would be moving in within the next few months as well.

"Hmm…it's not that hard to get the house expanded….Someone owes me a favor….he could make more room for us at any time…" Kagome thought about it, completely oblivious to Anko's flabbergasted expression.

"Then why is everyone smashed up together in one room?" Anko questioned, it wasn't that she was against the idea. It would be nice to only cook every once in a while since there were four people in the house that could use a stove she'd only have to cook once a week and on the occasion twice.

Kagome blinked, "I suppose I'm so used to the barracks in Anbu I don't really notice….The younger kids don't mind and Naruto isn't ready for that type of socialization. Has Iruka said something to you about it?"

Anko could only sigh, when wide blue eyes turned on her. Oh yeah, Iruka had commented once or twice and it wasn't the room thing that was bothering him so much as to who he was rooming with. Kagome had to be completely oblivious Kakashi seemed to check out anything with two legs including Iruka and Kagome. Then again, they weren't exactly normal from what Inoichi and Ibiki had told her almost all ninja in the force were emotionally stunted and often times over looked feelings of any type of nature.

"I don't mind…." Anko replied, it wasn't like doubling or even tripling up wasn't something that a lot of ninja did. During her years at the academy there had been many war orphans, and because the budget couldn't be stretched super far four or even five would live together in a single flat to be able to pay for enough food and water. Growing up during the war wasn't something that anyone could get used to, being put on rations just like the rest of Konoha had been hard on many nin's and had often times lead to death simply because the body would use up way more calories than they had to eat.

"Oh good." Kagome smiled to herself in amusement, she had little doubt that she had just confused her pupil beyond belief and she wasn't the least bit put out by it. If nothing she was highly entertained by having her students underestimate her, it was the best way to keep them in check. Many times the young jounin did things that made little to no sense to her students, and it often times kept them on their feet. Many people she'd meet along the road had called her training methods cruel and horrible for young children like Itachi, but it was up to her and her teachings to ensure that all her students would come back if something off the wall happened on a mission.

Kagome had little doubt that should she ever come back to Konoha without the young Uchiha prodigy that her life as a whole would be over. Not only would Fugaku and Mikoto be after her life, but her own standing in the ninja ranks would likely plummet. Not to mention with tension between the village and the Uchiha clan at an all-time high after the "Danzo has your people's eyes implanted in his arm" thing, it just wasn't the thing to do at the moment. So if she got a little rough in training, well she would prefer the lot of them being bruised and busted up then dead.

Once the cleaning had taken place and everything was once more returned to its rightful place, light by light went out in the old home. Soft steps continued up the stairwell, and soft muttering could be heard between the two women. Eventually the two settled across a large futon bed, and talked deeply into the night. They wouldn't be getting much practice done for a on the morrow the needed to ensure that Naruto wouldn't be able to get out of the house but they did want him to have access to the home. Eventually the talks tapered out as the two lost the battle with sleep, the house had a quiet to it that was odd in a world where things seemed to always go wrong.

O o O o O o O

It had been two weeks since Naruto had woken up, it had been a two weeks since the little blonde boy had run them all ragged. It had been two weeks since they noticed a slight change in the little boy, and it had been two week that the boy needed a bath but none of them were willing to hurt the fragile beginnings of trust just to clean the boy.

Kagome could only sigh while sitting in the room, Naruto was hiding under his bed with Bisuke and Uhei. The little boy had been spooked rather badly by one of Kabuto's medical jutsu and the young woman was almost certain that one of the medic nin's must had done something to the boy and it was all Kakashi could do to hold her back from tarring off to the hospital to have at the bastards that would hurt a small child. Thankfully, the good doctor Hitomi was just as angry and as one of the administrators he could order his medics in. Needless to say he'd caught more corrupt medics in the last three days than in his entire time tenured at the hospital. As such, Hitomi had taken it upon himself to whip the lot of them into shape with permission from the Hokage, Izahe had happily helped and Kagome almost…ALMOST felt sorry for the poor bastards for getting caught.

One of the issues that had noticed was that they couldn't keep Naruto sectioned off from her students, it just simply wasn't possible without forgoing the use of their home. Because of this the three of them not involved in the original mission had been commandeered to help with the care of the small boy, and it was quickly becoming apparent who Naruto felt the most comfortable with. Kakashi was currently getting the closest in fact the older boy had actually managed to sit near (around a foot and a half away) Naruto without the little boy freaking out. Iruka was another favorite, and thankfully enough, the young feral child had little to no problems with other children his own size though Kagome was concerned that Naruto might hurt Deidara or Sai without supervision. Kagome could get near the boy, but she honestly felt that the little blonde was very uncomfortable in her presence and it made her feel rather guilty imposing herself on the boy in such a way.

Thankfully getting the boy to eat or drink water hadn't been nearly as hard as they had thought it would be. After the first day or so of watching Uhei and Bisuke eating out of a dish, and drinking water Naruto had followed suit, he'd watched the two dogs the whole day as if waiting for the poison to kick in. When nothing happened, the young boy had been rather baffled at the lack of sickness or pain and had decided to take the risk of eating out of one of the dishes. After that he'd eaten everything he could get his hands on almost to the point of pain, he'd spent the next several days happily stuffing his face. They had to limit the amount of food he was taking in or he would have made himself very, very ill indeed.

This was probably the closest that the boy had come to being near her, he was settled at the end of the dogs while she was settled on the floor. The raven eyed woman's sight continued to stray, her darling little genin were working with Kakashi. Today was one of the ninjutsu days, tomorrow would be ninjutsu and genjutsu, then the third day would be there electives and if they were with her for another year she would change their electives to give them a broader training regime. If they were with her for a third year they would again focus on what they were best at.

A soft whine caught her attention while Uhei squirmed out of the pie of fur to settle beside her. Scratching his ears lightly she was surprised when the spotted dog sighed in relief there was a high possibility that he wanted a bath because of how long that he had been in their world. The summoning world was very different than what was in their own world, the needs that a summon had would always be seen to in the summoning dimension but they would have to be catered to here in this dimension.

"Do you want a bath Uhei? Shiba, Bisuke, I'm going to run a bath…I'm also going to leave the door open!" Kagome spoke softly but all three dogs were looking at her with relief, while Naruto looked up at her with confusion in his eyes, he didn't really understand what was happening. But it was about time that they showed him that he needed to bath, if Tsume was certain that he needed to bath then so be it she was going to had to treat him like a wayward pup. Recently it was all they could do to fight the stench off by washing the sheets and blankets in the room but the body odor always came back with vengeance.

Leaving the room she wasn't the least bit surprised to hear the clicking of nails or the soft patter of feet as they followed her to the bathroom. Turning on the spigot, she waved and Bisuke happily jumped the rim of the tub to dance away in the low bath water, it wasn't much fun for her considering the little dog didn't wait to allow her to remove his small navy blue jacket or his head protector, Shiba and Uhei on the other hand waited allowing her to remove their coverings before following in after their fellow summon to get clean.

Moving back a bit she found herself bumping into Naruto and they both went still, Naruto was staring at her with impossibly blue eyes as if daring her to move or to try to hurt him. Instead she simply looked in the boy in the eyes before continuing on the grab the dog shampoo that Kakashi had bought for them. Kakashi was usually the one to clean his summons because he felt that this allowed them to bond, but he'd been so busy with jounin missions and teaching the kids that he often times came home to collapse into bed. The raven haired woman would wake him up to make him eat, than allowed the tired man to return to sleep. Thankfully, her own missions consisted of D ranks that were rather local and Noa and Tsume often came to watch Naruto much like the rest of them when the three of them couldn't be there to look over the boy.

Focusing on the task at hand, Kagome could only listen with sharp ears the boy behind her hadn't moved as if frozen over with shock. So up to her elbows in soap suds she began to scrub at the dogs and they seemed perfectly happy letting her get on with the rub down, getting rid of the dirt and the dust along with sweat that had settled along their skin. Kagome really was surprised at the amount of fur that had been falling out as well, but from what Uhei had been telling her it was much color in the summoning dimension than it was in Konoha so it really shouldn't be a surprise that their fur was coming out to cool them down.

Eventually one by one she had the lot of them cleaned, Kagome herself would need a shower after everything was said and done. Just as she was rinsing off Shiba, a large splash sent water everywhere. Uhei had the almost four year old by the back of his collared shirt in the water with him.

Small blue eyes were wide as if the young boy really didn't know what to make of the situation, the other dogs had never dragged him along with them. He'd never gotten into warm water either and in this situation it seemed the best idea was to sit still or he might just be dragged into the water again. When the dark haired woman sighed, the Naruto gulped slightly terrified to find out what she would do.

Kagome sighed, this was going to hurt her much more than it was going to hurt him of that she was sure, lifting the boy out of the water she set him on the toilet lid before pulling the plug on the drain of the tub. Uhei was once more got out of the tub but settled right next to the boy as if to ensure he didn't make a run for it. Shiba on the other hand was glaring at the other spotted dog with annoyance, before he crawled out as well letting Kagome rinse the tub down before filling it with warm water.

Taking a deep breath, the raven haired woman lifted the stiff body of the boy forcing him to stand while systematically removing his clothing. It still made her cringe internally at the amount of bones that were showing, thought it wasn't nearly so bad as when they had first found the boy. Once the boy was naked he was eased into the water by Uhei, Kagome was relatively sure the only reason he'd been still enough was because all three dogs were now settled at the door and happened to be giving the boy very unforgiving glances.

Kagome was relatively sure that the only reason the dogs themselves were forcing the issue was that Naruto was rank to her and her sense of smell was no were near as good as theirs. Kakashi had winced every time he was in the same room as the boy before trying to escape away from the smell, Naruto's nose was probably dead to the smell because he was used to it so often that he simply didn't smell it anymore.

Grabbing the cup that was resting on the edge of the tub she filled it with water before pouring it out beside of the boy. The boy couldn't help but twitch, Kagome repeated the action several times before pouring some of the water over the boys shoulder slowly. When the boy began to breath at a quicker rate she paused before repeating this action over and over again. Eventually she poured water over the boys head and this was when he reacted, sharp thick little nails broke her skin and the blue eyed woman could only flinch. Those blue eyes widened in what amounted to horror as blood slipped down over his nails and hands, immediately the boy began to thrash and panic as fear crept into him. When the little blonde made a break for the door, Kagome reacted without thinking in the least she grabbed the small child and held him close as he squirmed and fought against her arms. In a desperate move to get away, the wild child bit down hard on the thing closest to him which happened to be Kagome's forearm.

After that they both went still, each of them were panting Naruto in terror and Kagome in a small amount of pain. The blonde boys little canines could do a large amount of damage to her unguarded arm, and instead of getting mad Kagome could just feel a great sense of despair settled over her body. Tears began to fall and she just felt so guilty, but it needed to be done even if the little boy hated her at the end of this. Instead of letting the boy go she gathered him closer and cried, she was crying because this little boy was hurting because of negligence and she had been one of many. She was crying because it was going to be a very long road to help Naruto be accepted by society, and she was crying because Minato would be so horrified and angry and hurt that one of his precious children was in such a position in the first place.

Naruto on the other hand was wide eyed and shocked, he'd never seen one of the big two legged people have the salty water fall from their faces and he'd never had one hold him so gently or so sadly while mutter I'm sorry over and over again. Many people just thought he was a little wild boy but he understood thing he wasn't supposed to from what he could remember. The little blonde had no idea why this big one was crying or why she was holding him like he was the most precious thing she had but he wasn't going to stop her while she rocked him. Naruto knew that the other big ones did this with the little ones while they were hurt, he'd seen that much from watching them in the park.

Eventually the rocking slowed and Naruto was utterly shocked when the rocking changed into gentle rubbings across his hair, and soft words of assurance. The little blonde was positive he should trust the big ones but none of them had hurt him, and he was warm most of them time and there was a lot of food. He'd been full for a long time and his tummy hadn't made that rumbly sound, but when it did on occasion he was given more food. Naruto Just simply didn't know what to think of the things that had continued to happen over the last several weeks, he had no idea how much time had passed just that it had been a long time and for once in his short life he felt safe. The safety scared him just as much if not more than the running around outside with the furry ones did.

Eventually he was startled again when the big one moved, he was once more inside the lukewarm water but the large one was holding him. The blonde boy found himself subjected to the water being poured over his head again and he forced himself to go limp. Something cold touched his head followed by fingers that were rubbing at his scalp and continued to rub causing white foamy forms to fall around him. Eventually his head was tilted back, and he could feel the panic bubbling inside him as water was pouring over his head again. Almost at once he began to whine, the small boy was sure he wouldn't get away this particular big on was extremely fast he'd seen her outside with the other sort of big ones. What surprised him was the words that started to poor out of her mouth, the I'm sorrys had started all over again but she wasn't stopping though she was trying to be more gentle without letting go of him.

Eventually the food smelling stuff that had been rubbed on his head faded only to be replaced by something cloth like and wet, it was rubbing against his skin getting rid of the sweat and the small of body odor. This cloth touched him everywhere even where he peed, and pooped, the whining continued though it was beginning to sound more plaintive than terror filled. The cup of water returned, and it splashed the small boy over and over again until the white foamy stuff disappeared. A slurping sound was heard and the water began to drain off, the blonde boy found himself wrapped up in a large fluffy length of cloth that made him feel warm and cozy, he was then carried to the room that smelled the most like him.

Naruto watching wide eyed as the cloth was peeled back briefly before he was once more covered with the cloth he'd been in since waking up in this place. This one was a bright pretty color that was pulled down lightly over his head followed by another piece that was pulled up around his legs and fitted to his hips before he was wrapped up in the fluffy cloth again. The little blonde was further surprised when he was cradled by the woman before the rocking started except this time it was in a chair and he could hear soft humming.

The humming was familiar he heard it pretty often, almost every time he dozed off at night the young child could hear the same melody. It made him feel warm on the inside when the humming started and this was no different than how he normally felt though this time the blonde was wrapped up snuggly and being held like he was something precious and it was odd for a boy that was often discarded and told that he wasn't worth it. Once the small boys eyes fluttered closed, Kagome could do nothing else but tuck the boy in the bed beneath the warm comforting sheets. Backing away, the young woman nearly stumbled over the dogs with a few swift movements she was outside of the room and sitting on one of the upper steps with her face buried in her hands.

That was how Iruka found her several hours later, Kagome was just sitting there in cold wet clothing her face buried in her hands and knees as if she was trying to shut out the world. The brunette worried over the girl constantly as often as Kagome put on a happy face many times she would become quiet and unresponsive as if she was far far away from them. Dropping his things on the step he was mildly horrified at the coldness of her skin, Iruka couldn't help but force the girl into standing. The younger boy was also worried when Kagome's knees just didn't seem to hold her up and Iruka was forced to keep the small woman upright. Instead of taking her to the girls bed room, Iruka steered the blue eyed woman toward the room he shared with Kakashi. The others looked up to Kagome far too much and would worry more than he currently was if they saw her in such a weak state. The younger boy was mildly horrified to see the bite mark along her arm as well as several nail marks that had more than likely been made by Naruto. No one else in the house had nails that would be sharp enough to pierce the skin that smoothly.

Sighing, the brunette left the room long enough to get the bandages from the bathroom there had still been little reaction from the blue eyed woman and Iruka was starting to wonder if the older girl was in shock. Struggling with that idea Iruka focused on the task of cleaning out the wound before putting bandaged over the sores. Thankfully none of the cuts were deep enough to require stitching or Iruka would have been forced to hunt down Hitomi or Kabuto and he didn't want to think about what the two of the would tell him, because Iruka was relatively certain he knew what it was.

"Kagome…take off your clothes okay?" Iruka told the girl that was now sitting on one of the chairs that was pulled out slightly from the desk that both Iruka and Kakashi used. He could hear the sounds of moving clothing while he hunted through his things. Kagome wouldn't be able to wear anything of Kakashi's except maybe a t-shirt or something, Kakashi's hips were much larger than hers.

When Iruka turned back around he was mildly surprised to find Kagome still in the bandages most of the female nin's of Konoha used to bind their breasts and her underwear that was skin tight, both coverings were see through at the moment and Iruka had to fight down a blush. Iruka's former teacher had called him a prude on more than one occasion, but the brunette didn't consider giving someone privacy being a prude but something closer to common courtesy. Sighing softly to himself at the unresponsiveness of his friend Iruka stripped her the rest of the way by standing behind the older girl before covering her in one of Kakashi's t-shirts and a pair of his own boxers.

Looking over Kagome again Iruka wanted to flinch at the broken look in her eyes, she seemed so depressed more than he'd ever seen before. Hugging the smaller girl from behind, Iruka found himself surprised when he began to hear soft sobs from a woman he considered to be extremely strong. The brunette male never thought he would see a day that Kagome would cry, but she'd already shown him nearly a month before that she was much more sensitive than most ninja who had been in Anbu were.

Iruka could only think about his mother when she would comfort him when he was younger, the brunette could remember the soothing voice and the way he'd been held snug and secure against his parents when he'd been upset. Sighing, Iruka pulled the smaller girl with him to sit on the futon, "Kagome please tell me what happened."

What followed was such a disjointed mumbling that Iruka had a hard time piecing together what happened, but after a few retries the brunette finally understood that Kagome had given the boy a bath and the reaction that he'd had tormented the older girl. For the first time in weeks, the brunette sat down and thought about what had been happening and he wondered when the mission that was supposed to be split between Kagome, Kakashi and himself became Kagome's mission. It had become apparent to him in the time that he'd been sitting there that he and Kakashi had been taking advantage of Kagome, she cooked, cleaned, watched Naruto when the two of them couldn't, taught her genin team and generally worried far too much for one who hadn't even managed her twentieth year.

Closing his eyes Iruka simply curled up around the girl in his lap, and once her tears start Iruka could stop himself and his own started to flow. There were so many regrets that came with being in the ninja world, so many ideas and thoughts that wouldn't and didn't occur to civilians. Iruka would know he was one of few ninja that went on to get his own high school degree, he was young but there was a condensed program for nin's that allowed them to finish much quicker than others. Then again most didn't bother because they didn't think that they would live long enough to put the diploma to good use and many of them regretted it when they came home to injured to do anything but work at a civilian establishment.

When Iruka dropped his chin to the top of Kagome's head he was surprised when she curled into him, small lethal yet elegant fingers curled into his shirt while a hot and flushed face pressed firmly into his neck. For once Iruka was comforting someone else and it let him feel relieved and needed even if this wasn't going to happen often he still felt the need to hold on for everything that he was worth because he knew just as many other nins new that you had to live in the moment. The past could eat you alive, and it often did for those that simply couldn't forget the past.

O o O o O o O

When Kakashi arrived home at around eight that night worry seemed to shoot through his spine, it was far too quiet. He couldn't hear any of the children, nor did he see Anko, Itachi or Kabuto which by itself was suspicious, together with the lack of noise from Sai, Deidara, Naruto or his partners made Kakashi's paranoia come to the forefront of his stomach in nothing but worry for those mentioned. Two month ago this ominous quiet would be a normal thing as he'd been living in the Anbu barracks which lacked any kind or normality that came with living outside of Anbu itself.

Now Kakashi enjoyed or in the more honest case expected the noise and the rush that came with getting Deidara and Sai ready for school before delivering them into the public school system for those too young to go to the Ninja Academy. Looking around the living room his frown seemed to grow nothing was out of place and he could feel the chakra that his summons were using to stay in the human dimension. Moving to the kitchen, his eyes immediately moved to the fridge and was mildly amused to see several note taped or held to its from by a number of magnets that had been bought and placed there by an amused Kagome and Iruka three weeks before. Really the two of them were just silly sometimes, chuckling at the thought Kakashi found himself looking over the notes.

_Kagome, Kakashi, Iruka,_

_I decided to spend the night with Itachi, he's been wanting some of his teammates to meet his baby brother and his family. I'm not sure how I feel about this but I'm dragging Anko with me mainly because the Uchiha clan makes my clan itch. Anko said she wouldn't be back tonight so I'm going to assume that she's going to spend the night with Kurenai, they've become really good friends along with Uzuki Yugao(she's on the same team as Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu), so I guess Kagome can quit worrying so much right? ()_

_Anyway, I dunno when I'll be back so I'll see you in the morning!_

_Kabuto_

_Grrr,_

_Anyway, Kabu-bu-chan made me write this out I don't think Kagome really cares at this point because she sorta looks like a zombie. Anyway you know where I'm going to be because Kabu-bu-chan is so self conscious that he feels the need to let you guys know where he is (he is also dragging me off to tell Hitomi WHY ME?)- Insert faux tears now - _

_Anko_

Kakashi blinked at the letters of his students before shaking his head and putting them away, the two of them fought like cats and dogs but should anyone outside their group of family Anko turned into a she-cat in heat, hell bent on destroying the offense. Neither he nor Kagome found anything wrong with this, but the council hadn't been happy when Anko finally let herself go and slugged the shit out of a merchants son for speaking badly about Kabuto (being a foreign fag) then about Iruka (the effeminate whore) followed by Kagome (the luscious dyke). Anko had been keeping it to herself until the boy started talking about putting all the orphans around Konoha down, as in put to sleep like they were nothing but dogs. Needless to say the young genin lost her head for a few minutes and when she came back down from the high of smacking the shit out of the boy…well she didn't feel the least bit guilty. When the merchant in question called it into penalty, several of the store owners stepped forward as they did consider the last three or so statements to be highly insulting to their town (they still weren't sure about Kabuto). Video footage was pulled and the merchant and his family were well forced to leave town while Anko and her team had been put on probation from D-ranks for about a week…no one was that upset about the incident.

Looking about he found another note but this one looked like it had been knocked off the fridge at some point and Kakashi wouldn't put it past Kabuto or Anko to simply overlook the letter and keep going. The silver haired man swore that would be one of the next lessons in the coming weeks, they needed to notice the small things quickly it might keep them alive for longer. This letter had a much more formal tone instead of the causal one that Anko and Kabuto tended to take with nearly all of their teachers.

_Kakashi,_

_This is Noa is you cannot tell by the hand writing alone, Shino wished to have his friends over and both Deidara and Sai agreed to come (if you remember I spoke about this to you before a week ago.) I checked in several hours ago, Kagome and Iruka seemed exhausted so I took the two of them. I also checked on Naruto and he was in a deep sleep, he was also sleeping on top of the bed instead of in his usual spot beneath it._

_There was bit of a mess in the bath room so I took the time to straighten it up and fold your dogs' vests. I can only assume Kagome gave them a bath considering how much better Naruto's room (and the boy himself) smelled once I understood the situation. I just thought I would leave you a note because both Iruka and Kagome unconscious when I arrived around four and it looked as though they needed the down time. I suggest that you take tonight and tomorrow as a Sabbath, I understand that the Hokage has asked a lot of you but the three of you need to take time for yourselves and allow Tsume, and I to help more. We did offer, remember?_

_Noa Aburame_

Kakashi sighed, as he looked over the note. He had been self-sufficient since he was a child to go back to relying on someone was going to be hard for him. But he knew something was going to have to give, both he and Kagome were pulling more than their fair share of weight and Iruka was literally training to play catch up to be on par with the two of them (from five am to sometime 8 at night Iruka worked and was at the perfect point in his potential growth to shoot through the roof). Honestly the boy should have been a Chunin by now, training for Jounin status. The silver haired man could honestly say he was furious with Iruka's former teacher for holding the younger boy back. Recently Kakashi and Kagome had been speaking together about putting the younger boy into the fall exams, the rest of his team wasn't quite ready but Iruka was and had been for over a year at least, possibly two. If the younger boy performed well Iruka could lead the other three on missions to help him work his way up to jounin.

Shaking his idea at the thought, Kakashi laid the letter on the counter before putting away what had more than likely been their dinner before what ever happened earlier in the day had happened. Walking up the steps, the silver haired man first checked on Naruto and was mildly amused to see the dog pile that had become the twin bed. His summons were more than happy that the boy had decided to stay on the bed and were curled and cuddled around the boy content to be on the elevated futon. Pushing the door to the black eyed teen left enough of the for open that it would be easy for the door to be opened. Thinking it over Kakashi returned down stairs before locking up, he highly doubted that anyone would be coming over at this point in night and if they did they would have what was necessary to get in and ensure that Naruto couldn't get out.

Opening the door to Kagome's room he found himself slightly concerned that the young woman wasn't sleeping there. Going onto his own room, a slight smile lifted the corners of his lips. It was cute and that was all the silver haired teen could think Iruka was leaning back against the wall his face buried in Kagome's hair while the small girl was tucked into Iruka's chest and clutching at the boys clothing with an almost desperate grip. Snickering to himself, he stripped down to his own boxers before beginning to manipulate the two of them. Iruka hadn't even bothered to remove all his weapons and the last thing he needed when he finally got to sleep was for someone to get stabbed by a stray kunai or shuriken. Once he'd removed all the boys weapons and seals, he slowly move the two into a more comfortable position so he could pull off Iruka's sandals as well as his knee length shorts.

Looking over the two of them, Kakashi smiled before slipping into the futon as well before pulling both of them tightly against his chest. When Iruka began to stir, Kakashi couldn't help but sit up slightly to watch the boy Kagome was more than likely going to sleep for many more hours she was more than exhausted all three of them were.

"Kashi?" Iruka could only question he was against something semi hard and warm while Kagome was slightly elevated as if she was sleeping on something. He was relatively sure that he'd fallen asleep against the wall and was slightly confused as to how he was laid out on his side now.

"Yeah, it's just me." The silver haired teen answered smoothly amused the Kagome was starting to squirm between the two of them for more heat. The young woman honestly looked like a kitten with all her routing around.

"We're going to have to rearrange things." Iruka muttered turning more on his side only to find Kagome trying to squirm into his skin.

"Yeah, but this little break down was probably for the best. Sometimes the emotions just need a violent release, in Anbu letting those emotions out are too dangerous. You have to keep yourself contained." Kakashi replied, before forcing Kagome back onto her side only to wrap an arm around Iruka's waist and pull the smaller boy tight against his own body sandwiching Kagome between the two of them.

Iruka just blushed, he didn't know what to think about that this was one of the moments that Kakashi could be a jerk or the biggest pervert instead he seemed to be trying to offer perhaps the weirdest type of comfort. He could hear the older boy murmuring to go to sleep that they could sort it out in the morning, that they would sort it out in the morning but at the moment sleep was the most important thing that they could be doing. It took little time for Iruka to fall asleep tucked up around Kagome with a strong arm wrapped around his waist, the morning would come with all sorts of problems but they would eventually deal with them like everything else.


	7. Learned Behavior

I don't own Inu Yasha or Naruto.

**I have goal for this year, and happens to be getting to 400,000 words on . Think I can make it? Either way I want to say thank you to everyone who has continued to review even though I'm not the best at updates. **

**On another note I have a question for everyone who's reading, what do you prefer in a chapter? Dialogue, action, description? What makes a story come alive for you?**

**I would also like to thank everyone for reviewing, I want to thank everyone who keeps coming back even though I take forever to update.**

**Person who doesn't sign reviews: This will be a threesome, I'm pretty sure it says Kak/Iru/KAg on the front or something similar. It is a polyandrous/polygamous relationship, this is part of the story and will not be changed.**

**A/n: This has not been betaed, so here enjoy. Point out what you see, or point me to someone who beta's things. **

Chapter 7

It had been just over two months that Naruto was awake and beginning to function like a child once more. It had been a relief to see him acting more like a human child, the boy was still very skittish, but he allowed himself to be touched by Kagome, Iruka and Kakashi. Naruto didn't seem to mind being in a room with Kabuto, Anko, Noa or Tsume, and the children didn't bother the feral-ish boy in the least.

With the change it had brought a relief among all of them, the new challenge now that they could actually touch the boy, happened to be teaching him. Naruto would have to be taught to read, write, speech, proper etiquette, and socialization. They were making progress on the socializing part but it wouldn't mean a damn thing if Naruto couldn't read or write.

Kagome looked over the boy beside her, it had been a trying thing to get Naruto to copy her, and they were still working through speech. Naruto's ability to speak might be lacking, but it was there. Recently she'd been getting him to go over the alphabet, written and spoken, his speech was slowly getting better with the basics. The written part seemed to be at a standstill. Naruto had a very hard time holding the pen or pencils and they discovered that it was almost impossible to cut his nails to make it easy to hold a writing utensil.

"A!" A little laugh followed the shouted vowel, Naruto rather liked living inside with the people in this house. He had quickly come to realize that these people weren't that much older than him, in comparison to the really old man that checked on him and the ladies that came with small people like him. In fact he'd started putting words together, but he still really disliked writing. The little blonde was getting better with the pencil it was just getting the thin item into the right angle to be able to write easily.

"That was very good, Naru-chan." Kagome was always very slow in both movement and speech with the small blonde, ever since the bathroom incident as she liked to call it the change in the small boy seemed to happen almost overnight. Hitomi had warned them that eventually, perhaps not consciously that Naruto would begin to test them to see if it was truly safe for him to stay there. There had been changes in them as well, Kakashi was taking less missions and Kagome had started her students on more missions. Soon they would have enough to qualify for the chunin exams, thankfully the next exam happened to be in Konoha.

Another high pitch was heard before the little blonde took off toddling awkwardly on two legs, out of the room and toward the front door. This was something that had become something of a problem, while Naruto was comfortable with those who were tasked to take care of him, the little boy adored Deidara. On more than one occasion she'd found the two blondes curled up together, she hadn't had the heart to remove them from one another. Neither Kakashi nor Iruka had the heart to separate them either, which lead to the fact that if Deidara was in the room Naruto was like a little hoverer trying to be as near to him as possible.

Kagome wasn't the least bit surprised to see four dogs coming in followed by three children and Kakashi. Shin was another recent addition and the youngster tended to sleep with Sai, she really was going to have to call in that favor with the way they kept adding people to their household. Though she could move Deidara into Naruto's room, she had no idea how either boy would react to such a change in pace.

The happy barks and squealing could be heard all throughout the house as Naruto played and jumped in excitement with Kakashi's nin-dogs. Deidara and Sai's laughter floated through the house, while Kakashi's low murmuring made her wonder who exactly was there. That was another thing they had been working on, Naruto had the hardest time standing and running like a little boy so they were having to reteach the boy how to move like a boy.

Shuddering, Kagome could only sigh at the mission on her hands it wasn't surprising and she knew that it was going to happen, but not this quickly. It was time for her to take her team out on their first mission outside the village. To be perfectly honest, Kagome wasn't sure if she could leave Kakashi by himself with all three of their little ones, sure Shin was there. Though the ten year old couldn't handle all of it by himself.

The note in front of her had been what she'd been pondering about all morning while sitting with Naruto, as he worked out writing between his coloring sprees; the little boy adored colored crayons. It was a fantastic way to distract the little blonde from getting into more trouble, now that he could toddle about the house the boy was getting into anything. She wasn't the only one that had a hard time keeping up with the boy apparently Kakashi and Iruka had the same problem.

Looking over the mission in front of her, Kagome knew that she would have to take it. At the moment it was only a delivery mission to Suna, but it would eventually get worse and it worried her at how fast they were going to try to push her little group of four. As much as she knew about Suna, it wasn't the place she was most knowledgeable and she would have to buff up on traditions before taking her loving lot with her. It wouldn't do to piss off some high level aristocrat, never mind someone get hurt and they have a country wide scandal.

Sighing softly to herself Kagome made her way down the steps the find Naruto happily cuddled up to Deidara who was sitting on the couch reading. Naruto didn't seem likely to move but neither did the older blonde. Shaking her head at them she wasn't the least bit surprised to find Kakashi trying to stay in the kitchen out of the way if the two of them started to play with the dogs again.

"They sent my team a mission. I shouldn't be surprised." Kagome stated before slipping into one of the chairs at their kitchen table. Sadly they didn't use it that often instead they ate in the living room or the dining room, there wasn't enough room at the kitchen table for the whole lot of them to be their comfortably.

"Already? Isn't this a bit quick? Most teams wait at least three months minimum. Our little genin are just over that mark." Kakashi could only frown, while Iruka should be a chunin going on jounin it was odd for the council to want to throw this group together for such an impromptu mission.

Kagome could only nod her head in agreement, she felt that while they could hand this type of mission the four of them weren't quite ready if something went wrong. "I honestly don't know what their thinking, I just hope nothing goes wrong. As long as nothing…unexpected happens then we should be alright."

Kakashi could only nod in agreement, "When do you need to leave? I'll have to make it known I won't be available for missions."

"A week from today. I suppose I'll tell them tomorrow." Kagome grumbled, really they could have warned her about this. Oh how she hated Diplomatic missions, it meant that she had to behave and be on top over everything, this was going to be worse than they normally were.

Kakashi could only make a face, while it was a "delivery" mission the fact that it was also diplomatic meant it was probably some nuisance of the treaty. This was generally considered a B mission, the fact that it was given to Kagome's team as a C level mission was slightly suspicious, and implied that something was going to be a bit off.

"Tomorrow." Kagome simply nodded at the look, before sending the older man a few simple signals to show that they would talk about it later with the Hokage. When Kakashi nodded at her, relief seemed to run down her spine before her attention turned to dinner. Lunch was usually a simple affair, and they had discovered that Naruto had a deep love of fruit, followed by his love of Ramen. Kagome never should have let Kakashi give the boy a bowl of those damn noodles.

"What about take out? Do you really feel like cooking? We could just pick something up from the Akimichi's?" Kakashi knew that he was sort of whining but at the moment he didn't want any more healthy food. While the food that was cooked was very tasty, he missed bbq and had a bit of a craving for the flavorful meat. He could hear the sigh of exasperation and happily ignored it instead he opened up his book of porn and continued reading.

A scowl overtook a young pretty face followed by a hateful glare, she was really beginning to hate that book and everything it stood for. Was it normal to be jealous of a book? Sometime Kagome felt a never ending desire to allow Itachi to use it for practice for his fire jutsu's, none the less she'd held on and left the little orange monstrosity alone.

Eventually Kakashi did indeed go get bbq and they all snacked and munched before going to bed that night. This was what she preferred at night, when the children were asleep and she could simply enjoy the silence. It didn't take her long to get ready for bed and leaving the others to clean up and chatter about like the children that they were.

O o O o O o O

Kagome sighed, as she looked over her students they were all doing well but practicing like this had nothing on actually being in a battle of even or superior skill. Experience at this point was what would help them grow, the only reservation Kagome had was the mission that had been given to her. Normally, Kagome wouldn't go against the grain but something in her turned against this mission. There were still six days before they would be expected to leave, and for the last few hours of the morning the blue eyed woman had been contemplating speaking with the Hokage about this particular mission.

Something was itching in the back of her mind though she wasn't certain why, because of that she'd pretty much made up with the idea to speak with the Hokage later in the day. Thankfully this afternoon the kids were going to work on their extra lessons, Anko was off to shadow Ibiki, Iruka and Itachi would be with Shikaku, while Kabuto would be working with his father.

She watched with a studious eye at the all-out rumble before her, this was something that was new that she and Kakashi had discussed weeks before. In the last three days it had been a winner takes all nothing hold bars against each other, all of them were extremely fast and accurate. The ninjutsu that was used tended to be between C to B level and it ensured that they had to get used to situational awareness. They were starting to hit harder with the use of the chakra weights upon their wrists, and she was seeing a significant improvement in them all.

What worried Kagome was Iruka, he was just getting to a point that he wasn't improving. Part of that was neither she nor Kakashi felt comfortable teaching him any A level jutsu until he was at least a Chunin, another was that he wasn't getting the chance to work in what he was good at. Though the boy was making a good bit of money helping Kakashi creating storage scrolls, and explosive tags, the two of them were almost always bent together trying to work out more sealing arrangements and some of them were becoming rather terrifying.

Anko and Kabuto didn't have as much experience as Iruka and because of that continued growing as they were put into different situations. Kabuto wasn't the least bit interested in senbon, but he was horribly curious about the poison that Anko put into it. He was always trying to see if he could make it dissipate inside his body. This of course meant Kabuto was in the hospital on a regular basis, but Anko now had antidotes to nearly all the poisons that she'd created. Many of the other Jounin's had been mildly amused to see her lot of genin in the hospital so often, when they weren't even leaving the village. Though many had reversed their opinion from watching one of their physical work outs, eventually they lot of them would move up to fighting herself, or Tsume. Noa and Kakashi had agreed to work with them and fight against them as well.

Itachi was possibly one of the most gifted nin's that Kagome had ever had the pleasure of teaching, the boy just absorbed knowledge like a sponge. There was only one problem, Itachi had the heart of a saint he hated killing and he hated hurting others. This wasn't something that could simply be retaught, the only saving grace was that the boy understood why it was necessary. It didn't really make him feel much better, but it was better than allowing him to think he was being turned into nothing more than a mindless killing machine. Another thing that had gotten her panties in a twist happened to be a confrontation that she'd had with the Itachi's parents, needless to say they weren't on good terms at the moment. Mikoto was thankfully in her corner, and surprisingly enough so was Itachi's older cousin Shisui who she'd suggested for Anbu.

_Kagome sighed, as she watched Itachi. Kakashi was to her left and she was positive that the older man was seeing the same thing that she was, someone was training Itachi while she wasn't there. Even if Itachi was part of the Uchiha clan there were some things that simply wasn't done. Intruding upon a jounin sensei's teaching even from a clan could have horrible results for the child in question. If they intended to train Itachi at the same time then, she needed to know so that she could adjust the training that the boy was doing for herself and Kakashi._

"_Alright, that's it. Stop." Kagome clapped loudly catching the attention of her students. They were working on water walking which happened to be a very pesky chakra control exercise. "The rest of you are dismissed, Itachi I need to speak with you." _

_Itachi felt his face flush as he felt his teammates look at him with concern, and amusement on Anko's part. He hated being called out for anything, and he didn't understand what he'd done wrong. He'd been getting much better as using his fire jutsu, at least enough to neutralize Iruka's water jutsu most of the time. _

_Kagome simply watched as her other students left, Iruka was already heading for the house to sit with Naruto while Anko was silently throwing senbon needles at Kabuto because she was bored. The black haired woman hoped that they weren't poisoned as she didn't feel like heading to the hospital at the moment. Looking over the boy before her she could only sigh before sneaking a glance at Kakashi who once more had his head in that stupid orange book that Jiraiya had written._

"_Who's been training you besides me?" Kagome asked, the bags under his eyes and the paler than normal skin was beginning to make her worry. Uchiha's were naturally pale to begin with but he was becoming see through, the veins in those thin arms were standing out a bright pumping blue. There were also bruises at the edges of his clothing, bruises that she hadn't put there that should have healed by now._

_The boy seemed to pale further before a slight flush of a sickly red begin to cover his cheeks, those black dark eyes looked up at them with a guilty expression on his face. He hadn't wanted to work with the older men from the police force, but the council thought that it was a better idea. Itachi had found it harder and harder to keep up with both his teacher and those at the Uchiha complex. Because of that, the men at the complex felt he wasn't working hard enough and begin to push him even harder._

"_I'm sorry, sensei." The dark haired boy hurt all over, and he didn't like to cry but the urge to do so was coming on very harshly._

"_Itachi, there are rules about this sort of thing. You clan has ignored these rules and thus I must speak with your father and mother." Kagome spoke softly, before bending down to speak with the small boy. Pulling the child closer, she simply let him burrow into her chest and shoulders. His body seemed to go lax with relief, when she pulled away it was easy to see the red rims around the outside of his eyes._

_ Kakashi sighed, before moving forward to ruffle the long silky soft hair of the little boy, "Come on Itachi, let's go get cleaned up. Kagome's going to go talk to your parents. Alright?" _

_ Artic blue eyes narrowed as she watched Kakashi talking to the younger boy gently, four months ago Kakashi would have simply ignored the distressed boy and it was different to see him reacting like that. Shaking that particular thought from her head, Kagome moved. The Uchiha compound was almost on the opposite side of the town, it was a large enclosed area that had high walls to keep themselves separate from Konoha._

_It was honestly surprising that they wondered why so few of the nin's or civies trusted them, snorting Kagome rested in an over shadowing tree that reached over the great wall and looked over them. They didn't often buy from the people of the village instead they had their own traders and markets, they refused to share the top quality goods leading to resentment, and they often times looked down on those who didn't come from a clan or was the last person of their particular clan._

_The only nin's that Kagome knew had a good in with the village had been Kakashi's teammate Obito who's been killed three nearly four years before. Shisui was an up and coming star but he had a good attitude and tended to ignore the clan's "ideology." Then there was Itachi, the shy but sweet young boy who was currently on her team. Certainly there were other civilian members of the Uchiha clan that were treated with respect but the ninja were not trusted._

"_Ohh! Kagome-sempai, what are you doing here?" A happy voice called out, and when she turned to look a small smile danced across her cheeks. Shisui was all of fourteen, and he was a chunin but he was now in Anbu, and while it didn't affect his rank it did affect his money flow. _

"_I need to speak with Fugaku and Mikoto." It was all she had intended to say, but when those brown eyes turned on her with worry she could only sigh. "What do you know of Itachi's training?"_

_Shisui frowned, "Not much why? Actually now that I think of it, I haven't seen him at the house at all, he tries to spend time with Sasuke when he can ya know?" His thick wild hair fell curling into his eyes, as he tried to remember anything more impertinent to what she'd asked him._

"_I see, I'll just have to wait then," Kagome replied easily, looking at the house before her. The largest and most decorative house belonged to the head man, this one in general had a very large and over baring fan as if to inform them all that they were once more the top clan. But Kagome as sure that it was just arrogance. _

_Shisui simply shuddered, the artic tone reminded him of when his Sempai was in Anbu. The tree shuddered at the weight and the wind, and caused Shisui to shiver. Looking at the older girl he simply sighed before taking off, there wasn't anything that he could do about it. He didn't want to get involved in the Clan vs. Hokage, the council was being selfish Minato had been a fine hokage and Hiruzen was doing his best. It wasn't as if they tried to stand up for themselves in an adult manner, they acted very childishly when confronted with a problem._

_Kagome simply watched the boy go, Shisui was a good person and she could only hope that he never let the rest of his family get to him. She was still being updated on the younger Uchiha's progress in Anbu's training, and he would be getting his first mission within the next months which was rather good for his age. Hours passed and still she waited, Itachi wasn't to leave the house and she was certain that Kakashi was managing to keep the boy entertained._

_It was nearing the evening when those blue eyes focused on Fugaku, he was heading toward his home. Mikoto had spent the entire morning and afternoon looking after Sasuke and cleaning and in all honesty the older woman had looked miserable. Mikoto had once been one of the top jounin in the force, the fact that she'd been reduced to a house wife was painful for Kagome to watch. It would be a different matter if she looked satisfied, but instead she looked rather disappointed and tired with her lot in life. _

_Jumping down over the high wall, Kagome could only sigh while walking toward the head house. Several nin's were looking at her with disbelief, most of the population of Konoha would never step foot on Uchiha land, Kagome on the other hand didn't give a damn and had every intention of talking with Fugaku and Mikoto._

_Ignoring the lot of them the young woman simply continued forward before standing upon there step way and knocking briskly on the door. Eventually the door swung open to reveal Mikoto in her working clothing a deep plum top and reddish skirt a yellow apron laid over them to keep them a bit clean, the lines that should have been from laughter looked more like tired frowns. All in all the older woman looked about tear years older than she actually was, Kagome could only wonder how long it had been since Mikoto had smiled without proper prompting from her children._

"_Hello, Mikoto, I need to speak with you and Fugaku about Itachi." Kagome almost cringed when the woman paled almost swaying. The young woman could only watch as the Uchiha closed her eyes took a breath and seemed to cut her emotions of as if that would make anything better. The calm yet blank nod made Kagome want to sigh, but she shrugged off the slightly worrisome emotion to follow the housewife into a living room setting._

_Fugaku was there and looked for once in his life relieved the older man was resting in a simply furnished chair that was light on padding. The back of the chair was both high and straight leaving Kagome to wonder at the actual comfort such a chair could give. A soft cough from Mikoto had the Uchiha heads face turning up, before it seemed to glare at Kagome. The dark haired girl had no idea what had gotten into the Uchiha clan but recently they seemed to glare at anyone who got within ten feet of them._

_Those heavy black eyes studied her, seemed to try to find any sort of weakness possible before a well-worn gravel like voice spoke up, "What can I help you with. Higurashi?"_

"_I want to know who decided to give Itachi more training after his time with me." Kagome replied easily, her voice couldn't rise or waver. This was one of those bullshit games that clan heads like to perform on those they considered beneath them. While the Higurashi name was well known as a clan, considering she was the ONLY Higurashi beside a cousin that lived very far away…well her family name didn't have the respect it once did._

_Kagome only watched with cool eyes when Mikoto's head snapped to her husbands, a dark look was present and the blue eyed woman could only shiver. Mikoto had once been now as the __**Konoha no Kuroi Honoo, **__which was roughly Konoha's Dark Flame. Those black expressive eyes that had been so subdued when Kagome had arrived seemed to ignite in a furious burn that was mildly terrifying. A quiet setting between the three of them while Fugaku seemed to be trying to hide his displeasure, the jounin teacher wasn't sure if older man was displeased with the fact that Itachi was being trained more than he should or if it was because the boy had gotten caught._

"_I see." There was an extremely uncomfortable long pause, before the clan head began to speak again. "I felt it was in my son's best interest to work as hard as possible."_

_Kagome wanted to snort but managed to stop herself, "Normally I wouldn't have a problem with this but Itachi isn't doing well. He's pale to the point of being translucent, and I don't think that black bags that dark should be under an eight year olds eyes. The point I'm trying to make is that I highly disapprove of the extra training. Itachi is making significant leaps and bounds with my training. I find it insulting that you feel the need to go about this behind my back."_

"_Higurashi, what is Itachi being trained in? Within your care at least?" Mikoto was still giving her husband heated glances from the corner of her eyes, and Kagome had little doubt that upon her leave the woman was going to light into the man._

"_I'm teaching him Genjutsu, Kakashi is teaching him Ninjutsu both Fire and Water as well as common ones that all nin's should know, and Maito Gai is teaching him two different types of Taijutsu and cleaning up the Intercepting fist he already knows. Itachi is learning strategy with Shikaku Nara, and Kenjutsu with Kenton, I've also been teaching him advance chakra control exercises so he can begin advance Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. I don't think Itachi needs anything else to learn at the moment, when you add in the fifteen missions, I have them do a week I assure you they are plenty busy." Kagome recited his schedule by heart, training for Taijutsu starts at 6am and ran until 8, Ninjutsu starts at 8.15 after a short cool down and ended at 10.15, which allowed her to pick up with Genjutsu theory and chakra control at 10.30, this portion of their day ended at 12.30. After an hour break for lunch. Her four students went their separate ways, Itachi had practice with Kenton three days a week for roughly two hours. Strategy was on Tues. and Thurs. at the same time, while she worked with Itachi on his Advised Genjutsu and chakra control for an hour and a half. Missions started at five that night, and generally ran until 8 or even 9 at night. Saturday was used to catch up on mission count or used as an off day, though she preferred to allow them to have a day off. _

_Mikoto's eyes were wide, while Fugaku seemed to be trying to hide a sneer. Uh, oh, Kagome could only think that she had opened up a can of worms that would later come back to haunt her. Instead she got a very polite remark that Itachi would be sticking with her training, as Mikoto needed to speak with her husband. Almost the minute she stepped out the door, yelling could be heard. While most of it seemed to belong to Mikoto, Fugaku was raising his voice just as well as his wife. Shaking her head at the couple, Kagome checked the time before taking off, she had missions with her brats that needed to be overseen._

That incident was still firmly embedded into Kagome's mind and made her wonder over what was happening in the Uchiha clan. Since that particular day, rumors had been running rampant in and out of ninja circles. The civilians' of the clan had for once in history disagreed with the head man, and several of the traveling merchants had simply moved out causing an even larger stir in the society at hand.

Whatever was going on, she and the folks she talked to were keeping their heads down. When clans had disagreements or arguments, they could settle it in whatever way they wished so long as it doesn't disrupt Konoha, that didn't mean that others should get involved though that just tended to cause problems.

"Alright, I think the lot of you has done enough. Itachi keep working on the water concentration exercise, Anko, Kabuto I expect the two of you to finish the water walking technique in the next two or three days., Iruka since you finished cutting the leave I expect you to continue working on it. I'll help you start on shape manipulation tomorrow yeah?" When Kagome got conformations from all her students she simply took off. Her students were left looking at a whirl of leaves, glances could only be shot at each other none of them knew what had gotten into their sensei.

Within minutes Kagome was standing outside the Hokage's chambers, currently there was a bit of a wait but hopefully things would go well or she could be there for several hours. Thankfully there wasn't going to be a long wait most of the nin's there were giving reports, and would file a second written report with more sensitive information. She on the other hand didn't see how the Hokage got anything done between reports and the paperwork he had to work through.

Roughly thirty minutes and six people passed before her, until Kagome was allowed inside the plush office. The dark furnishing and Hiruzen's form inside his robes were likely meant to project a calming aura, but to many he was a formidable person even with the façade of an office worker. To many people knew about the "God of Shinobi" to ever feel completely at ease in the aging man's presence.

"Ah, Kagome what can I help you with?" Hiruzen asked, not really looking up from his paperwork. The elderly man was rather good at multitasking he'd had plenty of practice in his life, listening while working away at the massive stacks of paper that littered his desk. It wasn't that he didn't trust the his nin's enough to delegate, but he certainly hadn't trusted the civilian or ninja council. Homura or Koharu were always trying to do things behind his back and he was smart enough to not allow some of the larger issues come up. Some of the reports he'd gotten from Inoichi and Ibiki about the activities from some of the civilian council had been horrible, thankfully that was slowly being cleaned up as well as some of the council members' minions.

"I need to know more information about this mission." Kagome stated calmly before laying it across the man's desk. It had been unusual for her, Kagome had at one time been on a genin squad. The fact that she'd been given a mission instead of being allowed to choose one rubbed her wrong, the fact the certain instincts flared to life in distaste.

Sarutobi finally looked up from his work a frown on his face and a thick furrowing of his brow, "What mission?" When Kagome simply threw the mission scroll toward her Hokage, the frown upon his face, turned quickly into a scowl it was a most thunderous expression. "Who gave this to you?"

"It was sent by a mission hawk. " Kagome replied easily, her eyes had fluttered shut. The dark haired woman could feel the churning rise of chakra as emotions seemed to ride over the Hokage, she could only wonder how much they could push the elderly man before he put them all under military rule. She personally knew that the Daimyo wasn't any happier with the way things were being ran than the Hokage, and Sesshoumaru-sama was nowhere near as kind hearted. If they as a whole continued to anger the Daimyo he would simply have them executed and start over.

"Ignore it then. This wasn't for you, it this was supposed to be sent to Shisui. Pick out another C rank for your team Kagome." The Hokage replied, looking at the woman before him with a stern expression once the woman nodded her understanding and left the Hokage could only fold into himself. Why in the world had Kagome gotten a hold of this mission? Was someone once more trying to manipulate things to their advantage, or was it mere coincidence? Then again, this mission was actually rated as a high B, or low A level mission, no one could possibly believe it would acceptable for a beginning genin team. Even if the genin in question were amazing and quiet advanced.

Kagome happily left to find a different mission but she had to wonder at the Hokage and what could be behind the odd mission that had landed in her lap. Instead, Kagome made her way to the mission's desk, it wasn't her place to ask questions. The Hokage would speak to her about it at a later date, instead she found herself looking over the mission desk were Yoshino Nara was send chilling glares at some of the written reports that had been sent in. The Nara woman happened to be married to the head of the clan and when she wasn't working at home as a house wife, helped with the mission desk and other sorts of paperwork at the Hokage's tower.

"Good Afternoon, Yoshino." Kagome spoke up, at this point in the afternoon there were very few people looking for missions and those that did were usually teams that trained in the early mornings before it became too dangerous to train in the heat. She on the other hand was looking for a mission that would take place in a few days, it was time that her students learned what was required on a mission outside of Konoha.

"Ah, Kagome…I suppose you're looking for C rank missions?" Yoshino paused slightly before continuing on, "You know it's a bit insulting that you haven't asked the rest of us for help with Naruto? I mean I've heard so much from Tsume and Noa….I expect to be invited to meet the little Uzumaki soon." This continued before a wickedly sweet smile was sent her way, and a wave of a delicate hand showed the younger woman were the C rank missions were waiting to be accepted.

Kagome could only shiver at the sickeningly sweet way of saying she didn't really have an option as Yoshino had made on for her. Sometimes the Higurashi girl wondered how Yoshino had managed to snag Shikaku, the man was very handsome but disliked orders…The fact that he put up with the older woman's high maintenance with ease was rather impressive. She one the other hand had heard several rumors about their son Shikamaru and his insistent need to get away from his mother. Instead of responding verbally Kagome simply nodded before moving over to the mission pile and happily began to look through the stack. C rank missions were the easiest to get and also in high supply, only D and A rank missions had more. A ranks were so plentiful because Konohagakure was currently low on jounin and special jounin because of the war and Kyuubi and D ranks because the people of Konoha were happy to put young pre-teens and teenagers to work if they were of the genin class.

Kagome let her eyes roll over the missions available several of them were simply unacceptable, anyone going to the Land of Snow during this time of the year was insane. She shivered, that a devilishly cold place to visit and if she could help the Higurashi woman had no intention of going there by freewill. A mission to Tea country, a mission to Kumo, Bird, Bear, Lock, Kagome wanted to roll her eyes what was this international week? Eventually the young woman found a delivery of a large shipment of metal to be taken to Takumi Village. This particular place was amazing with the creation of weapons and Konohagakure had them contracted for most of the weapons that were sold inside city limits. They would deliver the metal and pick up anything that needed to be brought back to the Village. Smiling to herself, the dark haired woman promptly disappeared to leave nothing but colored petals on the floor.

O o O o O o O

When Kagome came home it was to a house of chaos, apparently allowing them to have time off in the afternoon equated to a wild house. The children were running about like little monsters while Kakashi seemed to be trying to work on a report rather unsuccessfully, Iruka was looking on with wide eyed wonder at the chaos unfolding before him. Anko was happily playing along as was Shin and Itachi, and for once Kagome wondered if the house was always going to be wild and free like it was at that very point in time.

Instead of saying a thing she quietly slipped into the kitchen allowing the lot of them to simply go wild, thankfully cleaning up after them would be easy. Kakashi was good about not letting the lot of them get into things that would be hard to clean up, Iruka on the other hand always managed to keep Anko from spilling too much blood which was always a positive. Blood was such a pain to get out of fabric.

Eventually the children were put to bed, Kagome's team of Misfits were still up and only Itachi's puppy dog eyes managed to keep his sensei from sending the younger boy to bed. Kakashi was also giving her a look that she obviously needed to explain, but for now it was probably imperative that she inform her munchkins that they would be leaving on a mission for Takumi in roughly four days.

"Okay..I have some good news." Kagome smiled, her eyes were closed while her mouth seemed to be making something akin to a cattish smile. Kakashi could only think this was why she'd been given the Cat mask regardless of Power levels. It wasn't to say that Kagome wasn't strong but she did have a cat like grace about her, she also had a bit of an independence streak a mile wide. A quiet seemed to descend with a great suddenness as the lot of them looked to her with curious expressions on their faces.

Kagome started off simply, "We have a C rank mission, I expect all four of you to be ready in four days. I will inspect each of your packs before we leave. " Instead of explaining further she simply placed the mission scroll on the table before dancing over toward Iruka, there was a long pause of silence before both Anko and Kabuto lunged for the scroll. Thankfully the thick canvas wasn't easily torn or it would be in pieces from the rough treatment it was receiving.

"Kagome that was rather devious." Iruka commented, amused when he was pulled into a tight hug and happily returned the tight warmth. It never worked out how Kagome wanted it, Iruka had been taller than the older girl though he didn't have anything on Kakashi. The grin of amusement sent his way had the taller boy shaking his head, Kabuto and Anko continued to scramble to open up the mission scroll. Once they did Kabuto had a grin on his face, while Anko was trying to hide the smirk of pleasure.

Iruka was just as pleased, Kabuto happened to read out what they were going to be doing and it didn't sound horrible. But it could be a bit dangerous, what if someone tried to stop them? It wouldn't be the first time that bandits had attacked someone delivering materials to a particular place. Kakashi was giving them, all the stink eye but it wasn't all that surprising. It wasn't that surprising, Kakashi would have to care for Sai, Shin, Naruto and Deidara all by himself possibly for several days. Though Kagome had every intention of getting help from Tsume and Noa, for some reason the older women seemed to terrify Kakashi.

While the oldest members of the house hold worked away to get ready for several of its members to leave, the rest of its members slept. Kakashi was working on putting himself on a short no-mission roster, while Kagome was setting things up for while they were gone. Kakashi couldn't cook worth a damn, but he was relatively good as following directions. So the Higurashi woman was making several meals that could be popped into the oven for an hour or so before taken out to eat, this included several side dishes. It would take a day or so to make enough, but if there was anything left over once they returned it would be nice for the down time.

"So, how long do you think that this is going to take?" Kakashi finally asked, looking over someone he was coming to look over as dear friend. Sure for a long time he had Gai, and he on occasion hung out with Genma, but it was nice having someone he could depend on. The grey headed man was also very fond of Iruka, even though he often times harassed the younger boy in a variety ways.

"I don't really know. Takumi village is roughly a three week journey for civvies, so we should get there within 4 or 5 days. The lot of them should have the stamina for it, but I have no idea how long we'll actually have to stay for the exchange of goods." Kagome frowned, that was something she need to find out. "You know Tsume is happy to help don't you? Not only that but Deidara will be starting at one of the pre-academy schools. You wouldn't forget right?"

"Is it really that time already?" Kakashi frowned, "And do we really want to put Deidara in? He can wait until he's seven, it would be better to let him get more adjusted wouldn't it?" While the two of them had already graduated at this age, he didn't feel comfortable putting his sensei's son into the ninja academy. In many ways he found himself being a father, but preferred to be something similar to a big brother. On more than one occasion the grey haired man had fallen asleep on the couch with Deidara resting between himself and the back of the couch.

"Hmm, you might be right. I suppose we could wait until it starts next March, that should be enough time right?" Kagome looked at her partner, she could agree with him. While Deidara had come along way, the boy was still very, very shy. The older blonde had a hard time expressing himself though she'd found him coloring more often than not. It seemed to help steady the boy and on more than one occasion she'd seen Iruka encouraging the boy. In fact Iruka's wall in his shared room with Kakashi was covered in drawings from Deidara, though he now also had drawings from Kiba, Shino, Sai, Sasuke and the younger boy had even convinced Itachi to draw him a picture. Neither she nor Kakashi had said a thing to the drawing, and the dark headed woman had ensured that neither Anko or Kabuto teased the younger boy.

The silent agreement that passed between them was easy to sit through; they both enjoyed the companion ship that the other could offer. When the house was quiet and dark the two of them tended to enjoy the silence for as long as it was possible. A soft warmth seemed to be floating about and it wasn't really surprising, it was always rather warm this time of year though it did cool down quite a bit during the nights.

The house was silent and still all that could be heard for someone nearby was the occasion sizzle and pop of cooking, or the soft scratching of a pencil as Kakashi worked on new Seal arrays. The grey haired man often times worked on them this way as a way to create a new seal without wasting the special expensive ink that conducted chakra.

O o O o O o O

"Fugaku what in the world are you doing?" Mikoto asked, a frown on her face. Recently her husband had been acting very strangely; really several members of the Uchiha clan had been acting strangely. Many of the clan elders had put up a large fuss when many of the younger ninja's and some of the merchants had moved out of the Uchiha compound. This just seemed to set things off, arguing had become a way of live in her household. When Kagome, Itachi's sensei had visited it had become a long drawn out battle and the older woman simply didn't know what to do.

Secret meetings had been going on since the day Fugaku had come on asking for all Uchiha members that had missing or supposedly dead family members in the last ten years to come forward for DNA testing. Then not long after that eight children had been returned to them, nobody had asked were they had come from but it was obvious that they were Uchiha. All of them were emotionally crippled, but perhaps young enough to get over the obvious training that they had gone through.

Other things seemed out of place in the young wife's mind, Fugaku had always held Kagome Higurashi in high regard. Fugaku had been on a team with the girl's father all through the third ninja war, until the man had been killed ensure that his squad of eight managed to make it to the meeting point. Several of them had eventually returned for the man's body and they had been horrified to see what had happened to the man.

That respect had rolled over to Ikimi's daughter Kagome, she'd been alone for a very long time. Shortly after her father had died the girl's mother died giving birth to a stillborn child. Many had simply closed their eyes in despair, generally when a clan was reduced to one member it was considered to be sleeping or dormant. Kakashi, and Iruka were both very good examples of this. They were young and didn't know the ways of their ancestors but did their best to be good and responsible members of Konoha. Mikoto could do nothing but respect them for that.

Umino Iruka was possible the one that interested Mikoto the most, after the initial confrontation with Kagome the Uchiha house wife had invited the woman back repeatedly. Kagome had spoken openly with the woman about her team, and the people that she worked with on a regular basis, Iruka had stood out as the most interesting. It was a little known fact that the Uchiha clan had issues with sound, the fact that the boy was slowly reviving his clan techniques was fascinating.

More than that, it made Mikoto ache to return to being a ninja. She continued working in the corps until she became pregnant with Sasuke. She'd taken and gone through two very different genin teams and all of them were still alive, three of her students were jounin in the ninja corps. Two of them had gone on to be Fire Guardians for the Daimyo, and one of them was currently working as a diplomatic worker. Mikoto was proud of all six of them and considered them to be her other children, and this remembrance made Mikoto want to take up the mantel again and take another genin team. It had also woken the dark eyed woman to what was going on around her,

The Uchiha housewife simply sighed, something was very wrong and it seemed like she was the only one who noticed. Since it seemed to be coming down to it, she would be the one that kept a look out. If the elders new, it would be a death sentence but first and foremost she was loyal to Konoha. The clan came second as if should, the other clans were part of the family to and it seemed as if her clan had forgotten that. Shuddering, Mikoto sent off a messenger hawk that she'd trained herself. The small grey and black hawk was a smart bird, if someone tried to take the message it would be torn to shreds.

And so the head man's wife sent off three very different messages to all sorts of other Uchiha, it was time to have a talk with the rest of the clan. The men had grown old and greedy, if it was left to them Mikoto was certain that they would bury the clan in shame. That simply wasn't acceptable, as a direct descendent of Izuna Uchiha she would insure that the name Uchiha was loved instead of reviled.


End file.
